#Bustards

[antiqueanimals]

Animal Paradise. Written and illustrated by James Ralph Johnson. 1969.

Internet Archive

[snototter]

A northern black korhaan or white quilled bustard (Afrotis afraoides) in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

by jaffles

[fastman27]

Aptrill Day 16: Little Bustard.

Reference Photo

[noelcollection]

A rarity in the British Isles, Little Bustards nonetheless made the cut for British birds illustrated in Jardine’s The Naturalist’s Library. 

Tetrax tetrax is most commonly found in Southern Europe, particularly the Iberian Peninsula, as well as Central and Western Asia, though native populations have seen an unfortunate decline in recent history. Jardine records Little Bustards found in “Cornwall, Devonshire, Hampshire, Oxford, and Kent, also in Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk, Yorkshire, and Northumberland … [o]nce only has it occurred in Scotland that we are aware of.” 

Image from:

Jardine, William. The naturalist’s library. Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars et al., 1843. Vol. 26. Catalog record: https://bit.ly/2Q98p8i

[witchstone]

Southern Black Korhaan  Eupodotis afra West Coast Peninsula, South Africa -32.730887, 17.962802 by nicolaasmyburgh

[bob-artist]

Valentine's Day special! Pick the biggest loser and pass it on!

Pheasants:

Birds of paradise:

Grebes:

Originally posted by tigerjeff

Bustards:

Grouses:

Peafowl:

Parrots:

[forestshadow-wolf]

Today's bird is the Bustard (@queermentaldisaster)

(The photos in the following order are, Great bustard, Great Indian bustard, Black-Bellied bustard, and Arabian Bustard)

There are 26 species of bustard

Found on europe, asia, Australia, and Africa

They are a relative of the crane family, but more closely related to cuckoos

And they can be some of the heaviest flying birds, though they are terrestrial, meaning they spend most of their time on the ground

They have a very showy mating display where the males will gather to preform a lek, where they inflate their air sac, run, jump, and just generally show off thier capabilities. The female will then choose a male, and single-parent the offspring

They get the name Bustard from the latin root "tarda" meaning 'slow' or 'deliberate', thus meaning 'slow bird'

Tomorrow's birb: Emu

[dougielombax]

Inglorious Bustards

Shut up.

Bottom text.

[blogbirdfeather]

Great Bustard - Abetarda (Otis tarda)

Mourão/Portugal (29/11/2022)

[Nikon D500; AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5,6E PF ED VR; 1/2500s; F7,1; 400 ISO]

[antiqueanimals]

Great Bustards. Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935)

via

[snototter]

A kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) walks among the sand dune grasses in South Africa

by Barbara Evans

[podartists]

The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) | Joseph Wolf | Zoological sketches v.1 (1861) | Biodiversity Heritage Library | Flickr | Public domain

[tenth-sentence]

Down the slopes also scampered, with all the rapidity of their long stilts, fine fat bustards.

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" - Jules Verne

[herpsandbirds]

Northern Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicus), family Meropidae, order Coraciiformes, riding a Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori), family Otididae, order Otidiformes, central Africa

The Kori Bustard is the largest flying bird in Africa.

photograph by Rich Lindie

[kestrelhill]

It's a Lesser Florican, a critically endangered bird of Indian grasslands.

https://ebird.org/species/lesflo2/