Little bustard

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Little bustard
Little Bustard (Tetrax tetrax), Castuera, Extremadura, Spain.jpg
Male
Tetrax tetrax femella.jpg
Female
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Otidiformes
Family: Otididae
Genus: Tetrax
T. Forster, 1817
Species:
T. tetrax
Binomial name
Tetrax tetrax
TetraxTetraxIUCNver2018 2.png
Range of T. tetrax
  Breeding
  Resident
  Non-breeding
  Passage
  Probably extinct
  Extinct
Synonyms

Otis tetraxLinnaeus, 1758 (protonym)

The little bustard (Tetrax tetrax) is a bird in the bustard family, the only member of the genus Tetrax. It breeds in Southern Europe and in Western and Central Asia.

Contents

Taxonomy

The little bustard was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . He placed it with the other bustards in the genus Otis and coined the binomial name Otis tetrax. [3] Linnaeus designated the type locality as Europe but this has been restricted to France. [4] The little bustard is now placed in its own genus Tetrax that was introduced in 1817 by Thomas Forster. [5] [6] The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [6] The genus name and the specific epithet tetrax is the Latin word for an unidentified gamebird. [7]

Description

Although the smallest Palearctic bustard, the little bustard is still pheasant-sized at 42–45 cm (17–18 in) long with a 90–110 cm (35–43 in) wingspan and a weight of 830 g (29 oz). [8] In flight, the long wings are extensively white. The breeding male is brown above and white below, with a grey head and a black neck bordered above and below by white.

Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden Tetrax tetrax MWNH 0049.JPG
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden

The female and non-breeding male lack the dramatic neck pattern, and the female is marked darker below than the male. Immature bustards resemble females. Both sexes are usually silent, although the male has a distinctive "raspberry-blowing" call: prrt.

Distribution and habitat

It breeds in Southern Europe and in Western and Central Asia. Southernmost European birds are mainly resident, but other populations migrate further south in winter. The central European population once breeding in the grassland of Hungary became extinct several decades ago. The species is declining due to habitat loss throughout its range. It used to breed more widely, for example ranging north to Poland occasionally. [9] It is only a very rare vagrant to Great Britain despite breeding in France. On 20 December 2013, the Cypriot newspapers 'Fileleftheros' and 'Politis', as well as news website 'SigmaLive', reported the discovery of a dead little bustard in the United Nations Buffer Zone. The bird had been shot by poachers hunting illegally in the zone. The shooting was particularly controversial amongst conservationists and birders since the little bustard is a very rare visitor to Cyprus and had not been officially recorded in Cyprus since December 1979. [10]

The bird's habitat is open grassland and undisturbed cultivation, with plants tall enough for cover. Males and females do not differ markedly in habitat selection. [11] It has a stately slow walk, and tends to run when disturbed rather than fly. It is gregarious, especially in winter.

Tracking of male Little Bustards has revealed that they are nocturnal migrants that make frequent stopovers in non-irrigated and irrigated croplands to reach more productive agricultural post-breeding areas. [12]

Behaviour and ecology

Food and feeding

This species is omnivorous, taking seeds, insects, rodents and reptiles.

Breeding

Like other bustards, the male little bustard has a flamboyant display with foot stamping and leaping in the air. Females lay 3 to 5 eggs on the ground.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2018). "Tetrax tetrax". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22691896A129913710. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22691896A129913710.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 154.
  4. ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 217.
  5. ↑ Forster, T. (1817). A Synoptical Catalogue of British Birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to Observations on British ornithology. London: Nichols, son, and Bentley. p. 20.
  6. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  7. ↑ Jobling, James A. "tetrax". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  8. ↑ "BTO BirdFacts: Little Bustard". British Trust for Ornithology . Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  9. ↑ Tomek, Teresa; Bocheński, Zygmunt (2005). "Weichselian and Holocene bird remains from Komarowa Cave, Central Poland". Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia. 48A (1–2): 43–65. doi: 10.3409/173491505783995743 .
  10. ↑ "Little Bustard Shot". cyprusbirdingtours.com. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Devoucoux, Pierrick; Besnard, Aurélien; Bretagnolle, Vincent (2019). "Sex-dependent habitat selection in a high-density Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax population in southern France, and the implications for conservation". Ibis. 161 (2): 310–324. doi:10.1111/ibi.12606. ISSN   1474-919X. S2CID   54035952.
  12. ↑ Alonso, H.; Correia, R.A.; Marques, A.T.; Palmeirim, J.M.; Moreira, F.; Silva, J.P. (2020). "Male post‐breeding movements and stopover habitat selection of an endangered short‐distance migrant, the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax". Ibis. 162 (2): 279–292. doi: 10.1111/ibi.12706 . hdl: 10451/46413 .
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