Great Bustard

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Vulnerable
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	No
Birds Directive Annex 1	No

The Great Bustard bred in England from the late fifteenth to the early nineteenth century, but became extinct as a British breeding bird in 1832 (Waters & Waters 2005; Shrubb 2011). A reintroduction programme on Salisbury Plain began in 2004 and successful nesting first occurred in 2009 (Burnside et al. 2011). The project is ongoing and breeding numbers have increased slowly with 12 nesting females in 2019; a minimum of five of these nests were successful with at least ten young fledging (Eaton et al. 2021).

Since 2004 Great Bustards have been reintroduced to Salisbury Plain, with breeding first confirmed in 2009.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Sample sizes are too small to report Productivity and Nesting statistics for this species.

Sample sizes are too small to report Biometrics for this species.

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Field Codes

2-letter: US | 5-letter code: GREBU | Euring: 4460

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

All recent breeding attempts have resulted from the ongoing reintroduction programme on Salisbury Plain (Burnside et al. 2011). Although breeding numbers have been increasing slowly it remains too early to confirm whether this programme will be successful and will enable a self-sustaining population to survive in the longer term.