Bustards

Little Bustard Bustard beag Tetrax tetrax

Rare vagrant.

Two county records up to the end of 2020.

1883 Youghal Bay, 14th November, now at National Museum, Dublin. H. F. Allin, Field 8th Dec., 1883: 799
1860 Ballycotton Bay, shot, 24th December. Lord Clermont, Zoologist 1861: 7385

Global Distribution: It has two widely separated breeding populations. In its eastern range it occurs in Russia (9,000 displaying males), Georgia (60 non-breeding individuals)6, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (c.20,000 individuals), Ukraine (100-110 individuals1), north-west China, northern Iran and Turkey (20-100 pairs2). Its western range covers Spain (43,000-71,700 individuals6, including 20,000-25,000 males5, down from 100,000-200,000 males in the 1990s) and Portugal (c.17,500 displaying males6), with smaller populations in Italy (1,515-2,220 individuals6), France (1,487-1,677 displaying males in 20045) and Morocco. Eastern populations winter from Turkey and the Caucasus to Iran, and erratically elsewhere in south Asia, with Azerbaijan holding the main wintering quarters (over 150,000 individuals in 2005-20067)6. Western populations winter in the Mediterranean zone, with the Iberian peninsula holding the most important wintering quarters (a minimum of 16,429-35-929 and 11,200 individuals in Spain and Portugal, respectively). (Birdlife International)

Great Bustard Bustard Mór Otis tarda

Rare vagrant.

One county record up to the end of 2020.

1925 Castletownbere, female, shot, 9th December, now at National Museum, Dublin. W. E. J. Williams, Irish Naturalists’ Journal 1: 92

Global Distribution: Breeds in Morocco (c.150 birds), Portugal (1,435 birds), Spain (23,055-25,000 birds), Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary (1,100-1,300 birds), Bulgaria, Romania (nearly extirpated), Moldova, Turkey (800-3,000 birds), Iran, Russia (8,000 birds), Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia (1,000 birds), and China (2,250-3,300 birds); and a reintroduction scheme is currently taking place in the United Kingdom.