Ludwig's bustard

Ludwig's bustard (Neotis ludwigii) is a species of bird in the bustard family, and named after Baron von Ludwig. It is a medium-to-large sized species. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. Its habitats include semi-arid grasslands.

Ludwig's bustard
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Otidiformes
Family: Otididae
Genus: Neotis
Species:
N. ludwigii
Binomial name
Neotis ludwigii
(Rüppell, 1837)

The Ludwig's bustard can weigh from 3 to 7.3 kg (6.6 to 16.1 lb), with a mean of 6.3 kg (14 lb) for the much larger male and 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) for the female. Length ranges from 76 to 85 cm (30 to 33 in) in females and 80 to 95 cm (31 to 37 in) in males.[2][3] It lives largely on large insects (mainly locusts), as well as flowers and seeds. Although it lives in semi-arid areas it seems to shift locally to follow the presence of rainfall. During extreme concentrations of rainfall, as many as 230 Ludwig's bustards have been seen at once feeding on locusts.[4]

This little-known species is now considered endangered. It is thought to be the bird species in Southern Africa most seriously at risk of dying from collisions with power lines,[5] with collisions more likely during winter and in wetter areas, with high variability in collision rates between years. [6]


References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Neotis ludwigii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Liebenberg, Louis, Field Guide to the Animal Tracks of Southern Africa. David Philip, Publishers (1990), ISBN 978-0-86486-132-0
  3. CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), ISBN 978-0-8493-4258-5.
  4. Dean & Milton (editors), The Karoo: Ecological Patterns and Processes. Cambridge University Press (1999), ISBN 978-0-521-55450-3
  5. (2011).
  6. Shaw, J.M.; Reid, T. A.; Schutgens, M.; Jenkins, A.R.; Ryan, G.R. (2018). "High power line collision mortality of threatened bustards at a regional scale in the Karoo, South Africa". Ibis. 160 (2): 431–446. doi:10.1111/ibi.12553.


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