Great bustard: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the great bustard lives – recorded in 12 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Otis tarda
Group	Cuckoos, turacos & other birds
Status	Endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	12 countries
Continents	Asia, Europe
Mass	143 g (birth weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Otidiformes
Family	Otididae

Where does the great bustard live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the great bustard in 12 countries and territories across Asia and Europe. Wikidata gives its range as: Africa. In Belgium it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a great bustard?

Wikidata records the following for the great bustard: mass 143 g (birth weight).

Is the great bustard endangered?

The great bustard’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the great bustard?

The great bustard (Otis tarda) is a bird in the order Otidiformes and the family Otididae, genus Otis. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the great bustard

The great bustard (Otis tarda) is a bird in the bustard family, and the only living member of the genus Otis. It breeds in open grasslands and farmland from northern Morocco, South and Central Europe to temperate Central and East Asia. European populations are mainly resident, but Asian populations migrate farther south in winter. Endangered as of 2023, it had been listed as a Vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 1996.

Portugal and Spain now host about 60% of the world's great bustard population. The species was extirpated in Great Britain in the 19th century, when the last bird was shot in 1832. Since 1998, The Great Bustard Group have helped reintroduce it to England on Salisbury Plain, a British Army training area. Here, the lack of public access and disturbance allows them the seclusion they desire as a large, ground-nesting bird.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Great bustard (revision 1380340483), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q171655 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).