Birds are animals. Birds are the only animals that live on the earth that has feathers. The bird’s feathers help them to fly. And also helps to keep them warm. Birds are vertebrates and have boney skeletons. Since birds are vertebrates they all have brains, two eyes, beating hearts with circulatory systems, a pharynx, and mouths with muscles. Bustard is a type of bird and there are 22 species of Bustards. The Nubian Bustard is one of the species and it lives in Africa. The scientific name of the Nubian Bustard is Neotis nuba.

 

The male Nubian Bustard is 70 cm over 27 inches long and the female is 50 cm over 19 inches long. The body of the Nubian Bustard is a light brown color and there are wavy lines on the feathers. The male Nubian Bustard has a grey neck and his head does not have to much color.  He has black on his chin and throat, and his belly is white. The female Nubian Bustard is smaller and has less black on her chin and throat. Also their feet and legs are strong and helps the Nubian Bustard to run when they want to.

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The Nubian Bustard lives in certain areas of Africa like Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan. They like sandy areas and grassy edges because the females can lay their eggs there.  They usually have 2 or 3 eggs. The Nubian Bustard is a bird that is Near Threatened. This species has been threatened because of people hunting the Nubian Bustard in the areas where they live. Some areas protect the Nubian Bustard by law. But if the population of this species keeps going down, then they might be changed to being Vulnerable. 

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Nubian Bustards eat mostly insects, and grass seeds, leaves, fruits and acacia tree gum. After the eggs have hatched the adult birds will leave the baby chicks and look for food. But these birds will group into large groups during breeding season which is from July to October. They have special ways of keeping predators from getting the eggs or baby chicks. Since the Nubian Bustard bird is very large, their worst predators are large eagles like the golden eagle.

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The Nubian Bustard birds are very large birds in the animal kingdom. There are a lot of interesting facts about them like how large they are. The bird’s colors are kind of boring because there is not much color on them. But this is probably so they will blend in with the sandy places of their habitat.

 

Author: Brad G.

Published: February 19, 2014              

 

Sources

Animal Planet. 2014. http://www.animalplanet.com/birds/bustard-info.htm

Bird Life International. 2014. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=2763.

Holt California Life Science. 2007. Chapter 14. Birds pages 436&437.

Sahara Conservation Fund. 2011. http://www.saharaconservation.org/?Nubian-Bustard

Wildlife Journal Junior. 2014. http://www.nhptv.org/wild/Vertebrates.asp.

 

Photo of Adult Nubian Bustard by Don Miller. http://www.saharaconservation.org/?Nubian-Bustard