Houbara Bustard
Houbara Bustard ( Chlamydotis undulata )
The Houbara Bustard ( Chlamydotis undulata ), also called Sahara Houbara Bustard, is a large wading bird of the family of bustards ( Otididae ). There are two subspecies. In Europe, the Sahara Houbara Bustard is a very rare Irrgast, which is occasionally observed, especially in Italy.
Features
The plumage of the Houbara Bustard is on the upper side and lower side white sand color. A characteristic feature is the long, black and white, hanging from the neck feathers and the black and white bonnet on the head. The male is 65-75 cm long and 1.8 to 3.2 kg, the female 55 - 65 cm long and 1.2 to 1.7 kg. Through their plumage, the Houbara Bustard is well camouflaged, a black neck stripe breaks her body outline against the background of its barren habitat to identify. During courtship the taps present otherwise hidden white plumes on the neck and head. They are set up like a collar, with head and neck under the plumes are no longer visible.
The Houbara Bustard is an omnivorous bird. It eats plant material such as fruits, seeds, buds, leaves and flowers. The food is complemented by grasshoppers, crickets and beetles, other arthropods and reptiles.
Occurrence
The Houbara Bustard is a desert bird and lives on the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, in North Africa from Mauritania to the Nile in Egypt, in Asia from Sinai to West Pakistan and the Caspian region to Mongolia. In Asia, it is a migratory bird, in Africa, a stroke or sedentary.
Stock
The Houbara Bustard is highly threatened due to falconry and has been classified by the IUCN as endangered. She is indeed long been hunted traditionally and the hunt for the Houbara Bustard has always been closely connected emotionally with Arab identity and lifestyle. However, a significant change has set in the form of hunting method. Previously traveled hunting parties in the winter with camels in remote areas and were forced due to circumstances not to stray too far from the nearest water source. Today, hunting is often done with desert -grade cars, which occasionally even a column with supply tank trucks accompanied the motorcade. Such hunting societies can contribute to a substantial reduction of the collar Trapp stocks. Another factor in the decline of collar Trapp population is the destruction of their habitats. In parts of its range, many birds die from collisions with overhead power lines.
To protect the Houbara Bustard in different Arab countries, private projects, is grown at the collar bustards in captivity and then reintroduced. For example, there are in Morocco a breeding station, the auswildert thousands of collar bustards annually.
Subspecies
There are two subspecies have been described which differ in their coloration and their area of distribution:
- Undulata undulata Chlamydotis Jacquin, 1784
- Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae Rothschild & Hartert, 1894
For some authors, and BirdLife International, the Asian Houbara Bustard ( Chlamydotis macqueenii undulata ), Gray, JE, 1832, regarded as another subspecies.