Macqueen's Bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii

Macqueen's Bustard is native to the Middle East and Central Asia, breeding mainly from the Caspian to Mongolia and wintering south around Arabia and Pakistan.

It is prevalent in desert habitat with scrub vegetation and steppe. Males are larger than females and slightly more boldly marked. In courtship display, they spread their neck and tail feathers in a similar way to the Great Bustard.

Females are slightly paler and more camouflaged. Macqueen's Bustard is closely related to the smaller North African Houbara, of which it used to be classed as a subspecies.

All photos on this page were taken in Kazakhstan's Kzylkum Desert by Alexandra Makhnina.

Their population has been decimated by habitat loss (mainly for agriculture) and hunting (especially in their winter grounds). Also, like chickens, they need to cross roads.