Chlamydotis undulata - Houbara
Feather characters. Barbule length varies from medium until long (1.4-2.0 mm). Barbules are not pigmented. Slightly thickened nodes (16-20 per mm) are located on proximal end of barbules. Over a short distance these nodes abruptly decrease in size. Further along the barbule, nodal structures are too small to qualify as nodes. Villi are absent and internodes are straight. Prongs are absent.
Field characters. Size 55-65 cm. Weight: male 1758 g (1150-2380), female 1100 g (1100-1100) (Dunning, 1993). Smaller than female Great Bustard (Otis tarda, not included in BRIS). Sexes similar. Upperparts sandy-coloured, finely vermiculated dusky; head with white crest; foreneck and underparts white; neck sandy-grey. Characteristic frills at side of neck, uppermost black, lowest black-tipped white; these puffed out in display. Flight slow, Crane-like, with long neck, long and narrow wings, and long tail with three or four dark bars. Upperwing with large white patch on black outer primaries and pale diagonal bar separating sandy-coloured coverts and blackish secondaries. Juvenile has reduced crown tuft and neck-streak. Shy, sensitive to disturbance; usually prefers to run away when approached.
Voice. Silent.
Distribution. Dramatically declined over entire range due to excessive hunting; nowadays rare and local in N Africa and Middle East. Map: see MapIt.
Habitat. Dry steppe, semi-desert, and arid plains, open or with sparse shrub- and grass-cover; in winter also on fringes of marginally cultivated land.
Food. Omnivorous; plant material (seeds, fruits, shoots, leaves), insects, and reptiles.