Afghanistan (NB), Algeria (E) (B), Armenia (P), Austria (B) (NB), Azerbaijan (NB) (P), Bulgaria (NB), China (mainland) (B) (P), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (NB), Czech Republic (B) (NB), France (P), Georgia (NB) (P), Germany (B) (NB), Greece (NB), Hungary (B) (NB), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B) (NB) (P), Iraq (B) (NB), Italy (NB), Kazakhstan (B) (P), Kyrgyzstan (B) (P), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (NB), Mongolia (B) (P), Montenegro (B) (NB), Morocco (B), Poland (E) (B), Portugal (B) (NB), Romania (B) (NB), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B) (NB) (P), Serbia (B) (NB) (P), Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B) (NB), Spain (B) (NB), Sweden (E) (B), Switzerland (E) (B), Syrian Arab Republic (NB), Tajikistan (B) (P), Turkey (B) (NB) (P), Turkmenistan (P), Ukraine (B) (NB) (P), Uzbekistan (B) (P).
Vagrant to Albania, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Gibraltar, Ireland, Israel (NB), Japan (NB), Latvia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Myanmar (E), Netherlands Antilles, North Korea (NB), Pakistan, Saudi Arabia (NB), South Korea (NB), Tunisia, United Kingdom (E).
Population
Estimated population is 45,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Habitat fragmentation and loss due to agricultural intensification, mechanisation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, fire and predation, hunting, collision with overhead power lines, are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Plant material, invertebrates. In summer, a few small birds and mammals.
Great Bustard (Otis tarda) [XC721832]
by Lars Lachmann from Havelland (near Nennhausen), Brandenburg, Germany (call)
Great Bustard (Otis tarda) [XC793855]
by Lukas Pelikan from S\u00e3o Marcos da Ataboeira, Castro Verde, Beja District, Portugal (call)
Nest
A shallow depression on the ground, in low vegetation.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3; glossy, variable pale colors with brown blotches.
Subspecies
Birds of central Asia formerly awarded separate subspecies korejewi, but extensive overlap with nominate tarda.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
tarda Linnaeus, 1758 - Northern Morocco and Iberia, Germany and Hungary, and southern Ukraine; remnant populations elsewhere in eastern Europe. Also breeds in Turkey and western Iran, and from south-western Russia through Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan, wintering from southern Turkey and Syria through southern Azerbaijan and northern Iran to Uzbekistan and Tadjikistan.
dybowskii Taczanowski, 1874 - South-eastern Russia, Mongolia and north-eastern China.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet