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7

Australian Bustard (Ardeotis australis) Alternate name(s): "Plains Turkey", "Wild Turkey", "Turkey", "Kori Bustard" Aboriginal name(s): Race "australis": "mantaba", "murranudda", "boorawa" ("burrawa"), "cooraki", "kipara", "kyogle", "nanatee", "nanundi", "numerkah", "pooranna", "ballala", "kio", "gumblegubbin" "bebilya", "kooli", "wabanga", "bibilerak", "barado" (WA) Size: 80 cm - 1.3 m; wing span up to 2.3 m Weight: 4-7 (max. 14) kg (male), 2-4 kg (female)

Australia: Family Group 7 Family Group 7 Table Dusky Moorhen Australasian (Purple) Swamphen Black-tailed Native-hen Tasmanian Native-hen Pale-vented Bush-hen Eurasian Coot White-browed Crake Spotless Crake Baillon's Crake Australian Spotted Crake Lewin's Rail Buff-banded Rail Red-necked Crake Chestnut Rail White-breasted Waterhen Lord Howe Woodhen Australian Bustard Brolga Sarus Crane Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Australian Bustards are tall, turkey-like birds of the plains. They have a dark cap and a narrow black breast band that separates the grey head (eyebrows and cheeks) and neck from the white plumage of belly and vent. The upperparts (mantle, wings) are brown. Males have a black cap and a wider black breast band than females, who have a smaller, brown cap. The irises of both sexes are yellow. The bill is grey, legs and feet are greyish-yellow. Young Australian Bustards have highly cryptic plumage: Hatchlings are mottled brown, juveniles resemble more closely adults, but their plumage is mottled with grey specks for camouflage in open grassland and they lack the dark breast band.

Taxonomy, classification See Australian Bustard at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Australian Bustard is available HERE . Apart from Australia, Australian Bustards are also found across the Bass Strait, in southern New Guinea. Australian Bustards can be found basically everywhere in the northern half of the Australian continent, including the most arid parts of the continent, while in the southern half their distribution is patchy. They are not found along the south-eastern coastal fringe and Tasmania (see a field guide for details). Australian Bustards live mostly in open grassland, including paddocks, and open woodland with grassy undergrowth (in tropical, i.e. wet, but also semi-arid to arid environments).

Sightings Click here for sighting information An Australian Bustard was seen 20 km South of Narrabri, on several occasions in November/December 2006, where it roosted in a palm tree. R. Russell reports finding Australian Bustards near Mount Molloy, QLD, in October 2010. M. Mearns reports spotting an Australian Bustard 50 km South of Karumba, QLD, in November 2012. Next, a single Australian Bustard was spotted by us about 10 km West of Narrabri, NSW, in July 2014. J. Greaves reports spotting an Australian Bustard at the Granites Gold Mine, inland NT, in June 2015, and at Boolardy Station, Murchison, WA, in August 2016. B. Hensen reports finding an Australian Bustard in the flood plain of the East Alligator River, NT, in July 2018. R. Plumtree found Australian Bustards in south-western QLD, near the border to SA along the Adventure Way, and near Roma, QLD, in September 2018. M. Eaton reports finding an Australian Bustard at Mount Carbine, QLD, in November 2018. Australian Bustards were found by M. Eaton and ourselves at Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in June 2019. M. Mearns reports finding Australian Bustards regularly in various locations in Outback QLD. In May 2020, at a time when a significant number of Australian Bustards pushed southwards from inland QLD, we found a group of 5 of them ca. 10 km W of Burren Junction, NSW. In the same timeframe, May/June 2020, a single Australian Bustard was found by V. Collins on fallow fields on a broadacre farm ca. 20 km NE of Narrabri, NSW. Another was found at the time about 10 km NE of Narrabri. A single bird was found by a local farmer 10 km SE of Bellata, NSW, and shortly afterwards a single bird was spotted in an industrial estate in Narrabri, NSW, both in May 2021. P. Brown reports finding an Australian Bustard along the Victoria Highway, westward of Katherine, NT, in September 2020. J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours found an Australian Bustard along the Pickford Road, Biboohra, near Mareeba, QLD, in December 2019.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Lateral view of a male Australian Bustard in courtship display (photo courtesy of R. Russell)
[Near Mount Molloy, QLD, October 2010]

Close-up lateral view of a male Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Karumba, QLD, November 2012]

Lateral view of a male Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Pickford Road, Biboohra, near Mareeba, QLD, December 2019]

Lateral view of two male Australian Bustards (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Boolardy Station, Murchison, WA, August 2016]

Lateral view of two male Australian Bustards (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Boolardy Station, Murchison, WA, August 2016]

Lateral view of a male Australian Bustard in open grassland
[Near Narrabri, NSW, July 2014]

Dorsal view of a male Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours)
[Pickford Road, Biboohra, near Mareeba, QLD, December 2019]

Dorsal view of a male Australian Bustard in open grassland
[Near Narrabri, NSW, July 2014]

Lateral view of a male Australian Bustard in flight
[Near Narrabri, NSW, July 2014]

Frontal view of a male Australian Bustard in captivity

FEMALE

Full-frontal view of a female Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Karumba, QLD, November 2012]

Lateral view of a female Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Karumba, QLD, November 2012]

Lateral view of a female Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Karumba, QLD, November 2012]

Near-dorsal view of a female Australian Bustard; note the dusky spots on the back (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Dorsal view of a female Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Adventure Way, N of Innamincka (SA), QLD, September 2018]

Sex unknown

Lateral view of an Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Narrabri, NSW, May 2021]

Near-dorsal view of an Australian Bustard in grassland
[Near Burren Junction, NSW, May 2020]

Close-up near-dorsal view of an Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Narrabri, NSW, May 2021]

Dorsal view of an Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Narrabri, NSW, May 2021]

Near-lateral view of an Australian Bustard in flight, wings up
[Near Burren Junction, NSW, May 2020]

Near-lateral view of an Australian Bustard in flight, wings down
[Near Burren Junction, NSW, May 2020]

Two phases of the wing beat of an Australian Bustard - note the goose-like appearance in the down phase
(photos courtesy of B. Hensen)
[East Alligator River, NT, July 2018]

Near-dorsal view of 5 Australian Bustards in flight
[Near Burren Junction, NSW, May 2020]

Dorsal view of an Australian Bustard in flight (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[The Granites Gold Mine, inland NT, June 2015]

Dorsal view of an Australian Bustard in low flight (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Adventure Way, N of Innamincka (SA), QLD, September 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a juvenile Australian Bustard - note the absence of a dark breast band; the fact that this bird is starting to display its distended air sack indicates that it is a young male (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Carbine, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile male Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Carbine, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Carbine, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Carbine, QLD, November 2018]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Australian Bustard (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mount Carbine, QLD, November 2018]

Behaviour

There is a separate page describing a male Australian Bustard displaying to impress a female HERE.

Australian Bustards, here 4 out of a group of 5 are shown, have a preference for open country, usually grassland, sometimes with nearby scattered trees or shrubs, often with prickly weeds
[Near Burren Junction, NSW, May 2020]

A typical occurrence in large parts of QLD: Australian Bustard stepping off the road (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Einasleigh, QLD, September 2019]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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