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Little Bustard
(Tetrax tetrax)
 German name(s): "Zwergtrappe"
Size: 42-45 cm; wing span 0.9-1.1 m
Weight: 795-975 g (male), 680-945 g (female)
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Little Bustards are relatively large grassland birds.
Their plumage
is mostly cryptic
and dimorphic, i.e.
males and
females
are different.
Males
reach maturity in the third calendar year, at which point they
obtain a wide black neckband bordered by white bands at
bottom and top and a second, narrow black band across the chest.
The upper neck and the sides of the head are grey, merging into
greyish-brown streaks along the crown. The underparts below the
neck bands are white. The upperparts are greyish-brown with fine
barring.
Female
Little Bustards have a grey belly, vent and undertail, plus a
grey patch from the throat to the sides of the neck. Otherwise
their plumage
is cryptic,
with grey/brown/black barring all over.
While the coverts make the wings of both sexes look
cryptic
when folded, they are extensively white in flight, with
black tips on the primaries, a small black "hook" across the
primaries and small black dots on the ends of the secondaries.
Both sexes have orange-brown irises, a slightly down-curved short
triangular bill and greyish-yellow legs and feet.
Sub-adult
males
gradually develop a widening neck band during the breeding season,
starting from the bottom.
Males in eclipse and
juveniles
resemble females.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Little
Bustard at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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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 Little Bustard is available
HERE
.
Little Bustards are a partly sedentary, partly migratory
species.
Their overall distribution ranges from far north-western
Africa and parts of western Europe in the West to central
Asia (near the border of Kazakhstan with China) in the East.
In the South of their range they reach parts of Asia Minor,
the Levant and Afghanistan and large parts of Pakistan,
including part of the coastline.
Little Bustards are sedentary or locally migratory in
south-western and western Europe, while elsewhere (in
Asia) they are breeding migrants in the northern parts
of their range, wintering farther south.
For more details refer to a field guide.
In Europe Little Bustards are present in much of Iberia (except
the North-west and parts of the North coast and the Pyrenees),
southern and central France and on Sardinia. Otherwise they
are only found in the far South-east of the continent, from
the Crimean peninsula to the Caucasus mountain range.
There are some reports of vagrants from southern
England, the Benelux countries and even southern to central
Scandinavia.
Former populations in Apulia, Italy, and in Hungary and North
Macedonia are extinct or presumed extinct.
Little Bustards have a preference for open grassland with
growth that is tall enough to provide cover.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
J. Pires reports spotting a group of
Little Bustards in the Tejo estuary, Portugal, in July 2019.
Next, a Little Bustard was found in the same area in November
2021.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has kindly been contributed by J. Pires.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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FEMALE |
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Lateral view of a female Little Bustard in a sea of thistles
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]
Lateral view of two female Little Bustards
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
Lateral view of a female Little Bustard, right, with two
sub-adult males
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a Little Bustard in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
Dorsal view of a Little Bustard in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
Distant near-dorsal view of a Little Bustard in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
Dorsal view of a Little Bustard in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
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Lateral view of an immature male Little Bustard; note the
emerging neck band
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]
Lateral view of an immature male Little Bustard; note the
emerging neck band
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 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.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
