Denham's Bustard

Denham's Bustard
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Otidae
Genus:	Neotis
Species:	N. denhami
Binomial name
Neotis denhami (Children & Vigors, 1826)
Synonyms
Neotis cafra denhami

Denham's Bustard, Stanley Bustard or Stanley's Bustard, Neotis denhami, is a large bird in the bustard family. It breeds in much of sub-Saharan Africa. It is a species of open ground, including agricultural land, grassland, flood-plains and burnt fynbos. It is resident, but some inland populations move to lower altitudes in winter.

Denham's Bustard is the largest species in the Neotis genus, although is smaller than the bustards in the Ardeotis genus (as well as the Great Bustard). The male is 9 to 10 kg (20 to 22 lb) and 100–116 cm (39–46 in), the female is much smaller at 3 to 4 kg (6.6 to 8.8 lb) and 80–87 cm (31–34 in).^[1][2] The back is brown, darker and plainer in the male, and the underparts are white. The neck is pale grey with an orange nape, and the head has black stripes on the crown. The long legs are pale yellow. The wings are strikingly patterned in brown, white and black, the male showing more white in flight than the female or young birds.

The male inflates his throat when displaying to show a conspicuous balloon of white feathers. This species is usually silent.

Denham's Bustard feeds on insects, small vertebrates and plant material. It has suffered population declines through much, if not all, of its range. Hunting is the primary cause of declines across the Sahel and west Africa, but in eastern and southern Africa, conversion of grassland to agriculture is a greater threat.

The common names for this species refer to the English explorer, Major Dixon Denham, and the English naturalist Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby

References

1. ^ [1] (2011).
2. ^ Liebenberg, Louis, Field Guide to the Animal Tracks of Southern Africa. David Philip, Publishers (1990), ISBN 978-0864861320

• Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1

External links

• Birdlife International