>Chlamydotis undulata (Houbara Bustard)

Houbara Bustard

Houbara Bustard
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Otidae
Genus:	Chlamydotis
Species:	C. undulata
Binomial name
Chlamydotis undulata (Jacquin, 1784)

The Houbara Bustard, Chlamydotis undulata, is a large bird in the bustard family.

Description

The Houbara Bustard is a small to mid-sized bustard. It measures 55–65 cm (22–26 in) in length and spans 135–170 cm (53–67 in) across the wings. It is brown above and white below, with a black stripe down the sides of its neck. In flight, the long wings show large areas of black and brown on the flight feathers. It is slightly smaller and darker than Macqueen's Bustard. The sexes are similar, but the female, at 66 cm (26 in) tall, is rather smaller and greyer above than the male, at 73 cm (29 in) tall.The body mass is 1.15–2.4 kg (2.5–5.3 lb) in males and 1–1.7 kg (2.2–3.7 lb) in females.

Taxonomy

The former Asian subspecies, C. u. macqueenii, has now been split as a full species,Macqueen's Bustard, Chlamydotis macqueenii. These two species are the only members of the Chlamydotis genus. The Canarian Houbara is the subspecies Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae. The dividing line between the two Chlamydotis species is the Sinai peninsula.

The British Ornithologists' Union's Taxonomic Records Committee's decision to accept this split has been questioned on the grounds that the differences in the male courtship displays may be functionally trivial, and would not prevent interbreeding, whereas a difference in a pre-copulation display would indicate that the two are separate species.The committee responded to this scepticism, by explaining that there are differences in both courtship and pre-copulation displays.

Distribution and habitat

The Houbara Bustard is found in the Canary Islands, North Africa, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, China, and the UAE. It breeds in deserts and other very arid sandy areas and is largely resident within its range.

Behaviour

Breeding

Like other bustards, this species has a flamboyant display raising the white feathers of the head and throat and withdrawing the head. Two to four eggs are laid on the ground. It hardly ever uses its voice.

Feeding

This species is omnivorous, taking seeds, insects and other small creatures.

Relation with humans

The Houbara Bustard is widely prized in Arabia as a quarry for falconers, particularly because its meat is valued an aphrodisiac (though according to one doctor it is instead a diuretic).Widespread hunting and loss of habitat have greatly reduced numbers. The allocation of hunting rights led to a diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

A major conservation and breeding project is based near Agadir, Morocco and Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan. The International Foundation for Conservation and Development of Wildlife is a not-for-profit foundation funded by Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The project breeds Houbaras using artificial insemination, and the offspring are released to the wild. A similar project, with The National Avian Research Centre of the International Fund for Houbara Conservation, under the auspices of the royal families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is underway in the UAE.In Pakistan, the Houbara Bustard is regarded as the provincial bird of Balochistan (Pakistan). While falconers are reportedly rarely seen in Pakistan anymore because of the poor security situation, Houbaras continue to be hunted each year in Pakistan with 25 permits by the government issued for the 2011-12 hunting season, each permit allowing one hundred birds to be hunted by the permit holder. Most of these permits have gone to royalty, rulers and influential commoners from Arab states such as Abu Dhabi, Qatar,Bahrain, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

A team of researchers found that, from 1998 to 2001, Houbara numbers dropped 63% in China, 60% in Kazakhstan, and 50% in Oman.