Bird Album
Asian Houbara
Chlamydotis macqueenii (Gray, JE, 1832)
65 cmLength140 cmWingspan1.5 kgWeight
It has a brown back, a white belly and black markings on each side of the neck.
Busiest months: May · Most records: Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, China
How to identify
Field marks
- Black markings on the side of neck
- Brown upperparts and white underparts
- Mostly white underwing with a black trailing edge
Male, female and young
Sexes similar in appearance; female is smaller, with paler upperparts.
Voice
Usually rather quiet.
Where and when it's recorded
Asian Houbara has been recorded at 17 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 9 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The Asian houbara (Chlamydotis macqueenii), also known as MacQueen's bustard, is a large bird in the bustard family. It is native to the desert and steppe regions of Asia, east from the Sinai Peninsula extending across Iran and further north toward Kazakhstan and Mongolia. In the 19th century, vagrants were found as far west of their range as Great Britain.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Asian Houbara?
The Asian Houbara is about 65 cm long, with a wingspan of 140 cm and weighs around 1.5 kg.
Where does the Asian Houbara live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: Middle East to central China. It is most often recorded in Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates and China.
When is the best time to see the Asian Houbara?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Asian Houbara endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Asian Houbara as Vulnerable.
What does the Asian Houbara eat?
Main food: Omnivore.
What family is the Asian Houbara in?
It belongs to the family Bustards (Otididae), order Otidiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- 65 cm
- Wingspan
- 140 cm
- Weight
- 1.5 kg
- Habitat
- Desert
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Lifestyle
- Active on the ground
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Vulnerable
More measurements
- Wing
- 383 mm
- Tail
- 195 mm
- Bill
- 46 mm
- Tarsus
- 90 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: Middle East to central China
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Otidiformes
- Family
- Bustards Otididae
- Genus
- Chlamydotis
Other birds in the genus Chlamydotis
African HoubaraChlamydotis undulata
Great BustardOtis tarda
Arabian BustardArdeotis arabs
Kori BustardArdeotis kori
Great Indian BustardArdeotis nigriceps
Australian BustardArdeotis australis
Ludwig's BustardNeotis ludwigii
Denham's BustardNeotis denhami
Heuglin's BustardNeotis heuglinii
Nubian BustardNeotis nuba
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Dmitriy Yankowskiy. ↗
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