The Great Bustard have feathers sometimes referred to as Florican. The actual Florican Bustard is a different bird and is at the edge of total extinction in the wild.
Mini traditional, mixed wing Atlantic salmon flies often call for Florican wing quilt slips. An alternative option includes silver pheasant or tail dyed tan, or even the elongated, speckled wing quills from a peacock. The original color of Florican wing quills is a sandy brown, marked with darker brown patterns.
Great Bustard and Wing Slips:
The British population of the great bustard was eradicated due to indiscriminate shooting. Classic Salmonfly patterns often require speckled bustard wing quilt slips. Alternatives like speckled wing quills from oak and turkey, along with peahen saddle feathers, are commonly used in fly tying, offering various natural colors.
The adult male Great Bustard showcases brown upper parts, marked with blackish patterns, while sporting a white underside, a lengthy grey neck, and head. Chestnut hues adorn his breast and lower neck sides, with a hint of golden tinge enhancing these vibrant colors, particularly as the male matures. During breeding seasons, he displays lengthy white neck bristles, which grow continually from the third to the sixth year of his life, reaching lengths of 12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in).
During flight, his expansive wings predominantly exhibit white hues with traces of brown along the lower primary and secondary feathers’ edges, along with a dark brown streak along the upper edge of the wing. The female’s breast and neck appear buff-colored, blending with brown and pale tones across the rest of her plumage, offering effective camouflage in open environments. Young birds resemble the female.
The eastern subspecies (O. t. dybowskii) appears more extensively grey in both sexes, displaying increased barring on the back. Possessing long legs, an elongated neck, and a robust, barrel-chested body, the Great Bustard embodies typical traits of its family and prefers similar habitats. While three other bustard species share habitat ranges with the Great Bustard—Macqueen’s, houbara, and little bustards—none exhibit the same vibrant plumage or come close to matching the size of this species, making the Great Bustard unmistakably unique.
The Great Bustard stands out in the avian world with remarkable traits. Males, the heaviest flying birds at 21 kg (45 lbs), possess an extreme size difference compared to females, who weigh merely 5-7 kg (11-15 lbs). This staggering sexual size contrast is a result of the bird’s unique mating system.
Females select mates based on appearance and intricate mating displays, performed annually at specific sites. Through generations of this selective process, males have evolved into oversized specimens with vivid red coloration, showcasing complex displays involving body contortions and inflating a specialized throat sac.
Unfortunately, severe population declines in the past century have limited observations of this intricate behavior. The species has dwindled across its habitat, even facing extinction in some European regions.
The Asian subspecies, found solely in Mongolia, China, and Russian South Siberia, is especially worrisome. Mongolia, amid transitions from communism to a market economy, faces challenges such as increased road construction, land privatization, and resource development, putting these bustards, estimated at less than 2500 birds, at risk.
Various threats loom over these magnificent birds. Their simple ground nests are destroyed by agricultural machinery in their habitat, while pesticides diminish the insect food crucial for chicks’ growth. Despite their flying ability, their heavy bodies make them vulnerable to collisions with powerlines. Although hunting is now illegal, it has contributed to their decline.
Efforts are underway to assess risks to bustards in Central Asia. Collaborations with local communities and conservation agencies aim to devise and implement conservation strategies to safeguard these majestic birds.
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