MacQueen's Bustard
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The Asian houbara (''Chlamydotis macqueenii''), also known as MacQueen's bustard, is a large
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
in the
bustard Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and in steppe regions. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bustards are ...
family. It is native to the desert and
steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...
regions of
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, west from the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
extending across
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and further north toward
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
and
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
. In the 19th century,
vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...
s were found as far west of their range as
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
. Populations have decreased by 20 to 50% between 1984 and 2004 mainly due to hunting and changes in land-use. The Asian houbara is a partial latitudinal migrant while the African houbara (''C. undulata'') is more sedentary. Both species are the only members of the genus ''
Chlamydotis '' Chlamydotis '' is a genus of large birds in the bustard family. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khlamus'', a horseman's cloak with weights sewn into the corners, and ''otis'', bustard. Members of this genus show very little sexual dimo ...
''. The Asian houbara used to be regarded as a subspecies of the African houbara.


Taxonomy

''Otis macqueenii'' was proposed by
John Edward Gray John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...
in 1834 for a bustard from
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
drawn by
Thomas Hardwicke Major-General Thomas Hardwicke (1756 – 3 March 1835) was an English soldier and natural history, naturalist who was in India from 1777 to 1823. He collected numerous specimens of natural history and had them painted by Indian artists. From th ...
. It was long regarded a
subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
of the African houbara ''Chlamydotis undulata''. It was classified as a distinct
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
in 2003. The genus name ''Chlamydotis'' is from
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''khlamus'', a horseman's cloak with weights sewn into the corners, and ''otis'', bustard. The Asian houbara is larger than the African houbara and much paler. The feathers on the top of the head include some long and curved feathers which are white or black with white bases. In the houbara, these crest feathers are all white and the difference is evident during the display of the male. The lack of intermediate forms in the region where the ranges of the Asian houbara and the African houbara meet, presumed to be in the
Nile valley The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...
, differences in morphology and display behaviour led to their being elevated to full species. The African houbara now refers only to the North African population, included as the nominate subspecies ''C. undulata undulata'' and a small population on the Canary Islands (''C. u. fuertaventurae''). Estimates based on the divergence of
mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
sequence suggest that the species separated from the common ancestors of ''C. u. undulata'' and ''C. u. fuertaventurae'' nearly 430,000 years ago. This divergence may have begun 900,000 years ago, at a time of extreme aridity. The wide dispersal abilities of the Asian houbara ensure that its genes are more well mixed unlike the geographically structured genetic patterns shown by the African houbara.


Description

This medium-sized bustard is about long with a wingspan. It is brown above and white below, with black stripes down the sides of the neck. In flight, the long wings show large areas of black and brown on the flight feathers and a white patch at the base of the primaries. From below the wing is mostly white with a black trailing edge. Sexes are similar, but the female is smaller and paler above. Males and females are nearly identical in plumage but males are slightly larger than females. A study of the morphometrics of the Asian houbara from
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
based on about 79 individuals of known sex showed that the males were 9 to 15% larger than females on most measurements. The use of
discriminant analysis Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), normal discriminant analysis (NDA), canonical variates analysis (CVA), or discriminant function analysis is a generalization of Fisher's linear discriminant, a method used in statistics and other fields, to fi ...
allowed correct identification of the sexes based on morphometrics in about 99% of the cases.


Distribution and habitat

The Asian houbara occurs from the east of the Sinai Peninsula to the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
and extending east to the
Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...
in Mongolia. Birds from the northern populations winter further south in Pakistan (mainly in western Balochistan) and in the dry arid zone of western India. Vagrants have historically been found as far west and north as Britain and as far south as northern Kerala (
Kanhangad Kanhangad () is a commercial city, located in the Kasaragod District, state of Kerala, India. Location The area contains villages around Kanhangad town with Kasaragod as the northern border, Nileshwar, popularly known as the 'cultural town' ...
). A bird was shot in 1847 at
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
in 1898, and another in
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
in 1898 all in the month of October. Possibly the last of these vagrants visited
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in November–December 1962. This species breeds in deserts and other very arid sandy areas. A study of their habitat in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
found the species to be very dependent on good vegetation cover and tended to be found in areas with dense growth of scrub vegetation, particularly ''
Capparis spinosa ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The taxonomic status of the species is controversial and unsettled. Species with ...
''. A study in the steppes of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
found that nest sites were chosen mainly in locations with high densities of insect prey which in turn were related to vegetation characteristics.


Migration

Their migrations have been tracked using satellite transmitters. Mongolian birds leave the wintering areas in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and Pakistan from mid to late March and arrive in their breeding grounds after about two months of flying, taking a path that avoids the high mountains of the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
. They fly about a day and cover a total of with stopovers along the path. They spend about four months in their breeding territories before setting off again and reach their winter grounds from October to December. Satellite tracking of 48 individual houbaras across multiple migrations showed that this species uses the local temperature to time their spring migration departure.


Behaviour and ecology

The male houbara displays initially with the neck upright and the feathers on the base of the neck erected. A few feathers on the head are also erected while walking slowly, with one foot moved carefully and placed just ahead of the other. This is followed by a more vigorous phase of running either in a line or in a circle around a few bushes while the neck is tucked back into an "S". The neck feathers are erected and cover the head. The feet are raised in a measured gait and the neck is swayed from side to side. A low sound of breathing may be heard but only at close range. Males will call during display and if there are no potential mates, the display may be repeated. When a mate appears to be receptive, the male puffs up the black feathers on the sides of the neck so that it appears like a black collar or ruff and walks towards the female while twisting his body from side to side. The males mate with multiple females and after mating, the female alone builds the nest and incubates. The clutch consists of 2–4 eggs laid in a bare scrape on the ground. The eggs hatch after about 23 days and as in all bustards, the nidifugous chicks leave the nest immediately after hatching and follow the mother which picks insects and passes them to the chicks with her beak. The young fledge in about 30 days but remain close to their mother for several months. When pursued by falcons (such as the
saker falcon The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is a large falcon species. It breeds from Central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is a partial migrant, which means that some part of the population is migratory, some part is not. In Eur ...
or
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...
) in falconry, the bustard rises into the air and spirals to avoid being struck. It has been claimed that it also defends itself by defecating on the falcon, the sticky green faeces causing the falcon to crash to the ground with wings stuck. This species is omnivorous taking seeds, berries, insects and other invertebrates. They do not drink water and obtain all the moisture they need from their diet. Tenebrionid beetles were found to be especially numerous in one study. Plant material makes up more of their diet during the non-breeding season.


Threats

The Asian houbara was once nearly hunted to near-extinction in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
by Arab
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
ers, hunters and
poachers Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunti ...
. It was considered great sport in colonial India, especially to hunt ''tiloor'' (the local name) from camel back. The bird would be approached in narrowing circles and on close approach the bustard would squat on the ground and conceal itself. The introduction of jeeps and guns however led to a drastic decline in the population of the species. Hunts in some parts of Pakistan have been organized for wealthy Arabs who purchase permits to hunt a limited number of birds but routinely exceed quotas. The meat of this bustard is considered in the Arab world to be an
aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases libido, sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. These substances range from a variety of plants, spices, and foods to synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs, such as ...
and a
diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics ...
according to another source. Rapid population declines of about 50% were seen in their breeding grounds in Kazakhstan between 1998 and 2002 and thought to be due to hunting, especially in their winter grounds. Annual declines over a ten-year period across Asia were estimated at around 27–30% in 2004. The main threat to the Asian houbara is degradation of semi-desert habitat by the introduction of agriculture and by infrastructure development such as roads and electricity, which are responsible for increased mortality of birds. In addition, power line collisions are a significant and previously underreported threat along the
Central Asian Flyway The Central Asian Flyway (CAF), Central Asian-Indian Flyway, or Central Asian-South Asian Flyway is a flyway covering a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the associated island chains. The CAF compris ...
migration route in
Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
. They also are at considerable risk during migration from heavy poaching as well as a lack of suitable habitats along their migration routes due to development. It is very sensitive to disturbance by humans and livestock when nesting. However, sheep grazing does not disturb the Asian Houbara's non-breeding habitats.


Conservation

Conservation efforts were made across the region after the 1970s with international conservation organizations working along with local governments. Some captive breeding facilities were created including one in Saudi Arabia in 1986 and have been successful in captive breeding since the late 1990s, initially by incubating eggs collected from the wild and later entirely in captivity using artificial insemination. Captive-bred birds are considerably more inbred and may be susceptible to diseases. Being migratory species, it is important that captive-bred bustards undertake similar migrations as wild birds. Comparing the migrations of captive and wild birds using satellite
telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...
, it was found that captive-bred individuals started autumn migration later and wintered closer to the breeding grounds than wild individuals. The surviving captive-bred bustards were also faithful in their wintering locations in subsequent years. As migration has a genetic component, it is important to consider migratory population structure, as well as natal and release-site fidelity, during captive breeding management of this species. The bird is protected in the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
. In February 2019, 50 birds were released into the
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
in
Al Ain Region The Eastern Region (), officially known as Al Ain Region (), is one of three Municipal Regions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It forms the southeastern part of the United Arab Emirates. Its main settlement is the eponymous city of Al Ain, locate ...
in the
Emirate of Abu Dhabi The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is one of seven Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area or . Abu Dhabi also has the second ...
, to help conserve the birds and increase their number in the wild.


References


External links


National Wildlife Research Centre, Saudi Arabia
* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1262382
MacQueen's bustard The Asian houbara (''Chlamydotis macqueenii''), also known as MacQueen's bustard, is a large bird in the bustard family. It is native to the desert and steppe regions of Asia, west from the Sinai Peninsula extending across Iran and further north ...
Birds of Central Asia Birds of Pakistan Birds of the Middle East Birds of Mongolia
MacQueen's bustard The Asian houbara (''Chlamydotis macqueenii''), also known as MacQueen's bustard, is a large bird in the bustard family. It is native to the desert and steppe regions of Asia, west from the Sinai Peninsula extending across Iran and further north ...
MacQueen's bustard The Asian houbara (''Chlamydotis macqueenii''), also known as MacQueen's bustard, is a large bird in the bustard family. It is native to the desert and steppe regions of Asia, west from the Sinai Peninsula extending across Iran and further north ...