Heuglin's bustard

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Heuglin's bustard
Neotis heuglinii - Thomas Galewski - 469374648.jpeg
Female Heuglin's bustard Neotis heuglinii
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Otidiformes
Family: Otididae
Genus: Neotis
Species:
N. heuglinii
Binomial name
Neotis heuglinii
(Hartlaub, 1859)
Synonyms

Otis heuglinii

Heuglin's bustard (Neotis heuglinii) is a species of bird in the bustard family.

The bird was initially described by Theodor von Heuglin and Gustav Hartlaub, although only Hartlaub is normally credited as the author. [3] Hartlaub, a curator at the Bremen Museum of Natural History, coined the species epithet for Heuglin, who collected the specimens and made measurements in the field near Somalia.

Description

It is a fairly large species, at up to 89 cm (35 in) in length. [4] The males weigh 4–8 kg (8.8–17.6 lb) and the much smaller females weigh 2.6–3 kg (5.7–6.6 lb). [5] Other than size, sexes differ considerably in appearance. The striking male has a large back marking over the crown down the face to the chin with a bluish-grey neck. On the male, a chestnut band on the lower chest which is separated from the white belly by a thin black band. The female is much more of a subdued brownish color overall, with no bold black markings and has a face lined with faint slate-gray markings. In flight, the species reveals a white primary wedge on the otherwise dark upperwing, a feature obscured when the species is standing. [4]

The Heuglin's bustard is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. It occurs in pairs or small groups in arid or semi-arid grasslands, even ranging into desert-edge. [4]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Neotis heuglinii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016 e.T22691920A93328934. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22691920A93328934.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ↑ Von Heuglin, Theodor (1859). Hartlaub, G. (ed.). "XXXIII.—List of Birds observed and collected during a Voyage in the Red Sea". Ibis . 1 (4): 337–352. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1859.tb06214.x. ISSN   0019-1019.
  4. 1 2 3 Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi by Stevenson & Fanshawe. Elsevier Science (2001), ISBN   978-0856610790
  5. ↑ CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), ISBN   978-0-8493-4258-5.
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