- Australian Bustard
Taxobox
name = Australian Bustard
status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1
image_width = 250px
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo =Gruiformes
familia =Otididae
genus = "Ardeotis "
species = "A. australia"
binomial = "Ardeotis australis"
binomial_authority = (Gray, 1829)The Australian Bustard, "Ardeotis australis", is a large ground bird of grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern
Australia and southernNew Guinea . It is also commonly referred to inCentral Australia as the "Bush Turkey", particularly by Aboriginal people.The male is up to convert|1.2|m|in|abbr=on tall with a convert|2.3|m|abbr=on wingspan. The average weight for males is convert|7.5|kg|abbr=on. The female is quite a bit smaller at convert|80|cm|in|abbr=on tall and convert|3|kg|abbr=on in weight but is similarly coloured. [http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/australian.bustard.html] The largest male was shot just outside Victoria and was 14.5 kg (32 lb). [Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc (1983), ISBN 978-0851122359] The back, wings and tail are dull brown, with mottled black and white markings on the
wing coverts . The neck and head appear dull white and the crown black. Legs are yellow to cream coloured.When disturbed, Australian Bustards often adopt a cryptic pose with neck erect and bill pointed skywards. They may stalk gradually away or run if alarmed, taking flight as a last resort. Populations are highly nomadic following rain and feed, which includes seeds, fruit, centipedes, insects, molluscs, lizards, young birds and small rodents.
Conservation Status
This bird remains relatively common and widespread across most of northern Australia (see Atlas), but its range appears to have contracted in the south-east of the continent during the last century, perhaps due to hunting (now illegal except for indigenous Australians), feral predators such as pigs and foxes and habitat destruction. Its nomadic habits make it difficult to assess.
The Australian Bustard is not listed as threatened on the
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 .Victoria
* The Australian Bustard is listed as threatened on the Victorian
Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. [ [http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/EADA0F1874AF9CF24A2567C1001020A388BBA5581CF9D859CA256BB300271BDB Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria] ] Under this Act, an "Action Statement" for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared. [ [http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/617768308BCB666E4A25684E00192281E7A24BB36FF60A144A256DEA00244294 Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria] ]
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