Kori Bustard

The word bustard comes from the Old French bistarda and some other languages: abetarda (Portuguese, Galician), and avutarda (Español) used for the great bustard. The naturalist William Turner listed the English spelling "bustard" and "bistard" in 1544.

All of the common names above are derived from Latin avis tarda or aves tardas "slowed bird" given by Pliny the Elder, these names were mentioned by Pierre Belon in 1555 and Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1600. The word tarda comes from tardus in Latin meaning "slow" and "deliberate", which is apt to describe the typical walking style of the species.

• Singular: bustard

• Plural: bustards

Botswana's national bird is the kgori (Setswana) or kori bustard and we are proud that a number of these birds call Limpopo-Lipadi their home.

The cryptically colored Kori bustard is primarily brown and grey with delicate black and white patterns. Vermiculated black and greyish-buff are the colors of the neck and upper portions. The white, black, and buff colors of the ventral plumage are particularly striking. Its head crest has a blackish hue, whilst the female's crest has less black. Above the eye is a white eye stripe. There is thin, delicate black banding across the whitish chin, throat, and neck.

A black collar at the base of the hind-neck extends onto the sides of the breast.[9] The feathers around the neck are loose, giving the appearance of a thicker neck than they really have. The belly is white and the tail has broad bands of brownish-gray and white coloration. Their feathers contain light sensitive porphyrins, which gives their feathers a pinkish tinge at the base- especially noticeable when the feathers are shed suddenly.

The head is large and the legs are relatively long. The eye is pale yellow, while the bill is light greenish horn coloured, relatively long, straight and rather flattened at the base. The legs are yellowish. The feet have three forward facing toes. Females are similar in plumage but are much smaller, measuring about 20–30% less in linear measurements and often weighing 2–3 times less than the male. The female is visibly thinner legged and slimmer necked.

The juvenile is similar in appearance to the female, but is browner with more spotting on the mantle, with shorter crest and neck plumes. Male juveniles are larger than females and can be the same overall size as the adult male but tends to be less bulky with a thinner neck, shorter head crest, paler eyes and a darker mantle.

The male kori bustard has a length of 105 to 135 cm (3 ft 5 in to 4 ft 5 in) and a wingspan of 230 to 275 cm (7 ft 7 in to 9 ft 0 in).

The bustards are related to the arboreal cuckoos and turacos based on the genome analysis.

Two subspecies are currently recognized:

• Ardeotis kori kori – the relatively pale nominate race from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, southern Angola, South Africa and Mozambique.

• Ardeotis kori struthiunculus – the "Somali kori" distributed in Ethiopia, Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania. The two races are separated by the miombo woodlands of central Africa. This race has a more boldly patterned head and slightly more black and white patterning on the wings. The two races are similar in size, though Ardeotis kori struthiunculus may be slightly larger. This may be a distinct species.

Bustards travel methodically on strong legs and huge toes, pecking for food as they go. Most prefer to run or walk over fly. They have long broad wings with "fingered" wingtips, and stunning patterns in flight.

Despite being one of the heaviest flying birds in the world, the Kori bustard prefers to stay on the ground and only flies when it is in grave danger. One of the few bird species that uses a sucking motion instead of a scooping motion to sip water is the Kori bustard. The Kori bustard, which may weigh up to 40 pounds at times, is one of the biggest birds that can fly. They are not long-distance flyers like swans or other big birds.

The Kori bustard is normally quieter than other bustards, although both sexes can growl loudly when they are frightened. For up to ten minutes, this is referred to as a ca-caa-ca sound that is repeated multiple times. Long distances are covered with this call. During agonistic interactions, females most frequently make this call to males and their offspring. When disturbed, even two-week-old chicks will make this alarm sound.

The deep, resonant woum-woum-woum-woum, oom-oom-oom, or wum, wum, wum, wum, wummm is the male's mating cry. The bill snapping, which can only be heard up close, marks the end of this cry. Kori bustards are frequently quiet outside of the breeding show. Sometimes a high warning call is heard, usually from females. On takeoff, they could make a deep vum.

Even though they occasionally feed in low bushes and trees, Kori bustards spend up to 70% of their time on foot because they are mostly terrestrial animals. This bird, the bustard, is cautious and alert. However, their behavior varies; at times they can be very fearless of people, and at other times they are typically quite shy, running or crouching at the first sight of danger. They walk slowly and hesitantly, and when they spot an intruder, they try to hide by moving away in silence while keeping their heads at an odd angle of 45° to 60°. Due of its size and weight, it tries to avoid flying.

It will initially run when startled, and if prodded more, it will rise to the air while running hard and beating its wings vigorously. With the legs folded and the neck extended, it flies more effortlessly once in the air with slow, deliberate wingbeats. Usually, it stays low and returns to within sight. Kori bustards only fold their wings after they have slowed to walking speed; otherwise, they remain wide out as they land. Since Kori bustards lack a preen gland, they create a powder down to stay clean. People engage in dust bathing and sunbathing.

This bird frequently makes its loud, booming mating call shortly before dawn, which is audible from a great distance. Kori bustards are mostly found in residential areas, though they can also travel around. Rainfall most likely affects these migratory movements, although no discernible pattern has been found. These nighttime local migrations have not been charted. These birds have been observed migrating up to 85 km (53 mi) from mopane woodland to open grassland plains in Etosha National Park, only to return the following season. The National Museums of Kenya's experiment with satellite tagging of a single male Kori bustard revealed a migratory between Tanzania and southeast South Sudan along the Rift Valley.

Walking slowly and sedately, they forage by picking at the ground with their bills and are most active in the first and last hours of daylight. Kori bustards are quite omnivorous birds. Insects are an important food source, with common species such as locusts, grasshoppers, dung beetles (Scarabaeus ssp.) and caterpillars being most often taken. They may follow large ungulates directly to catch insects flushed out by them or to pick through their dung for edible invertebrates. During outbreaks of locusts and caterpillars, kori bustards are sometimes found feeding on them in numbers. Other insect prey can include bush-crickets (Tettigonia ssp.), termites, hymenopterans and sun spiders. Scorpions and molluscs may be taken opportunistically as well.

Small vertebrates may also be taken regularly, including lizards, chameleons, small snakes, small mammals (especially rodents) and bird eggs and nestlings. They may occasionally eat carrion, especially from large animals killed in wildfires. Plant material is also an important food. Grasses and their seeds are perhaps the most prominent plant foods, but they may also eat seeds, berries, roots, bulbs, flowers, wild melons and green leaves. This bustard is very partial to Acacia gum. This liking has given rise to the Afrikaans common name Gompou or, literally translated, "gum peacock". They drink regularly when they can access water but they can be found as far as 40 km (25 mi) from water sources. Unusually, they suck up rather than scoop up water.

Compared to bustard males, they are more social and philopatric, and they frequently spend their whole lives in their birthplace. Male bustards form a group hierarchy during the winter and engage in violent, protracted battles, occasionally seriously injuring other males or humans by stabbing them in the head and neck. Their behavior varies however, and they are usually very shy, running or crouching at the first sign of danger; at other times they can be completely fearless of humans.

Threats

• Habitat loss due to agriculture and development.

• Hunting and poaching.

• Collision with power lines.

Conservation Status

• IUCN Red List: Least Concern (LC)

Conservation Efforts

• Protected areas and reserves.

• Power-line marking programs.

• Legal protection in many countries.

• Anti-poaching enforcement.

• Rescue and rehabilitation centers.

• Awareness campaigns against illegal pet trade.

This bustard has an extremely large but disjunct range in sub-Saharan Africa. occurring from Ethiopia and Somalia south to Tanzania, and from southern Angola and Zimbabwe south to South Africa. Declines in its overall range over the past century appear to have been relatively modest, but it has apparently undergone considerable population declines in all range states except Zambia (few records) and Angola.

This species is found in open grassland environments that are frequently characterized by short grass, typically close to the cover of solitary tree or bush clusters, and sandy soil, particularly Kalahari sands. It can be found in semi-desert, open dry bushveld, lightly forested savanna, highveld grassland, arid scrub, and plains. The annual rainfall in the areas where this species is found is quite low, ranging from 100 to 600 mm (3.9 to 23.6 in).

Savanna with minimal grass cover and sporadic trees and bushes is ideal for breeding. They may choose steep locations for nesting. They forage for their diverse diets from the short grasses by following fires or herds of foraging ungulates. Additionally, they can be found in agricultural regions, particularly in wheat fields with a few trees strewn about. Because it requires a lot of open space to take flight, this bustard is not seen in heavily forested and wooded locations. It can be found near dry watercourses in desert grassland environments where tree patches provide protection from the sun's rays.

During The Recollections of Queen Arianna (TROQA) saga in the 2600s and 2700s, the "Sky People," or Terrans from Earth, brought the kori bustard to two exoplanets that resembled Earth: Berbania from Ursa Major and Reinachos from Cygnus. Despite the death of our planet, conservation efforts are helping this species recover from endangerment or near extinction. The bustard became an invasive species as a result of human interactions for game hunting and rewilding. In two exoplanets that resembled Earth, the kori bustard lived in conditions and climates identical to those of Earth.

• Movement Pattern: Altitudinal Migrant

• Individual Type: Solo

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: 2,500-9,999

• Locomotion: Aerial

• Habitat: Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests; Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Graveyard Vale; Mountain; Volcano; Warm Ghost Town; Cold Ghost Town; Ruined Skyscraper.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Angola; Botswana; Ethiopia; Kenya; Mozambique; Namibia; Somalia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe

  • Possibly Extinct: Eswatini

• Sawintir: 

  • Extant: ugh

All bustard species were tranquilized with gunshots, fed while unconscious, then repeatedly overdosed on opiates.  Alternatively, survivors must steal the bustard's egg and tame it.  When these eggs hatch, the infants must be fed any form of seed or live worms, which can be obtained from a variety of locations.

Coming soon

Coming soon

• In some African cultures, the Kori bustard symbolizes:

  • Strength

  • Patience

  • Grounded power

• The bustard plays an important ecological role, faces increasing human-related threats, and deserves respectful representation both biologically and culturally.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kori_bustard

• https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22691928/93329549

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Kori-Bustard-1116107106