• Птиците в България
    Птиците срещащи се в България
    Всеки вид с кратко описание, снимки и видео в естесвена среда. Снимки на местообитанията, които обитава.
  • Над 400 вида птици в България
    426 вида птици в България!
    Знаете ли, че България е на второ място в Европа по видово разнообразие на птици?
  • On-line определител на птиците
    On-line определител на птиците!
    Открий и познай птицата, която си видял.
  • Хиляди снимки на птици
    Хиляди снимки на птици!
    Над 4000 снимки на птици публикувани безвъзмездно от над 150 фотографа.

Order Rails, Cranes, Bustards/Gruiformes, Family Bustards/Otididae

Little Bustard/Tetrax tetrax - Male

L 40-45 cm, WS 83-91 cm. Breeds in open, flat or undulating terrain with grass or cultivation, requiring vegetation tall enough to give cover. Display, apart from call, includes foot-stamping and sometimes wingflash with short leap in the air. Monogamous, or one a can have 2-3 females. Food mainly plant material and invertebrates.
IDENTIFICATION: Smallest bustard within the region, still roughly of female Pheasant size. Mainly because of size, flight differs from that of larger relatives and is more grouse-like, with noisy take-off, and quick, shallow wingbeats, interrupted by short glides on medium-long wings with rounded tips and somewhat arched primaries. Much white on wing, including secondaries, contrasting with black tips to outer primaries and primary coverts. - Adult male breeding: Striking pattern of head and neck, neck being black with two white collars; also, neck-feathers erected in display, making neck look inflated (even in flight!); head and throat lead-grey. Body darkmarked sandy-brown above, whitish below. Outermost 4th primary short and peculiarly emarginated to produce high-pitched whistling wing sound. - female and non-breeding male: Like breeding male but lacking black, white and grey pattern of head and neck, being sandy-brown with fine dark marks. Upperparts more heavily marked dark on female than on non-breeding male, latter looking paler at distance.
VOICE: Rather silent. Most frequently heard call is song of male, a slowly repeated (about every 10 sec.) dry snort, ‘prrt’, rather soft but still audible at 500 m. Also, male has whistling wingbeat sound. When flushed, female may utter a low staccato chuckle. Young have a fine, plaintive call, ‘cheeoo’, very similar to that of Great Bustard.

Similar species
Find Birds in Bulgaria on Facebook
Къща за гости
Старото Гнездо
Маджарово
Big year
All European birds in one place!
All European birds in one place!
Visit
Birdwatching and Wildlife Photography Tours in BULGARIA. Cottage to rent
Bird guide for all European birds
All European birds in one place!
 
Application for smart phones
Application for smart phones