What's so great about the great bustard? A lot of things- but the greatest of all is probably that they can lay claim to fame as one of the heaviest flying birds! The heaviest of them can weigh upwards of 18 kg (40 lbs)- and to help them lift all that weight, they boast a 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) wingspan!

Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori), family Otididae (bustards)

12/31/2025

A conservation breeding programme for the Critically Endangered Great Indian Bustard is beginning to show encouraging signs, with modest gains in the total population and plans to release captive-bred birds into protected habitat.

The collaborative initiative – the Bustard Recovery Programme launched in 2019 by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in partnership with the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Indian Ministry of Environment – aims to halt the precipitous decline of this iconic bird. 

Historically widespread across the Indian subcontinent, Great Indian Bustard now survives largely in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, with only scattered, tiny populations elsewhere. The species has been pushed to the brink by habitat loss, hunting and mortality from collisions with power lines and vehicles.

Small gains for big bustard

Recent figures indicate the total world population has risen from an estimated 150 birds in 2018 to 173 in 2025, including 45 individuals maintained in captive breeding centres. 

As reported by Ornithomedia, captive-breeding success has been central to this progress: eggs collected from the wild achieve very high hatch rates in incubators, and several chicks have been produced from mating in captivity, including via artificial insemination.

The programme reports ongoing reproductive success among birds hatched in breeding facilities, with captive-born birds now being raised in conditions designed to prepare them for release.

Captive-bred bustards

Subject to continued monitoring and habitat preparation, the first release of captive-bred bustards is planned for 2026 into restored and protected grassland within the Desert NP and adjacent managed areas. 

Conservation teams are also working to secure and enhance more than 18,000 ha of suitable habitat, including predator-control measures such as exclusion fencing to protect young birds once released. 

Little Bustard - SIsão (Tetrax tetrax)

Vila Franca de Xira/Portugal (23/09/2025)

Meet the Khamore, Day 24 of the Extinct Bird Drawtober!

Pictured with the Guria grass in which it makes it home. This bird inhabits low-lying Indian grasslands ripe for agriculture and as such has been displaced and feared extinct many times. It's official listing has fluctuated though the years and is now considered critically endangered.

A northern black korhaan or white quilled bustard (Afrotis afraoides) in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Animal Paradise. Written and illustrated by James Ralph Johnson. 1969.