Buff-crested Bustard Lophotis gindiana Scientific name definitions

Male 50 cm, 675–900 g. Similar in appearance to Red-crested Bustard (Lophotis ruficrista) and Savile's Bustard (Lophotis savilei), but has black throat stripe extending to belly  and more white  on sides of breast; upperparts darker, tail unbarred. Female lacks gray on head and neck, replaced by brown; generally similar to female Red-crested Bustard, but has pale buff line down throat, breast is more whitish, and upperparts are darker, with an unbarred tail.

Closely related to Savile's Bustard (Lophotis savilei) and Red-crested Bustard (Lophotis ruficrista); all three often considered conspecific. Birds of northern and central Somalia formerly awarded separate subspecies, hilgerti. Monotypic.

Southeastern South Sudan, southern and eastern Ethiopia; Djibouti and much of Somalia through Kenya to northeastern Uganda (1 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists’ Union, Oxford, United Kingdom. Close ) and northern and north-central Tanzania.

A bird of arid and semi-arid bushland, like Red-crested Bustard (Lophotis ruficrista), extending up to 1,200 m in Ethiopia , and 1,800 m in Kenya, but peripheral to highlands.

Sedentary, although local migration claimed to occur in Kenya.

Very little information available. Known to take seeds, green herbage and insects; may subsist heavily on ants.

Displaying males give a series of loud, shrill calls that may end in an aerial display during which a series of kri kri kri calls is given, accelerating towards the end (2 Stevenson, T., and J. Fanshawe (2002). Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi. T. & A. D. Poyser, London, UK. Close ).

March–June or later. Nest situated on bare ground with 1–2 eggs. No further information available.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Common throughout range, except in Sudan, where generally uncommon; an estimate of 25–40 females per 10,000 ha in suitable habitat. Biology and ecology very poorly known, in part due to taxonomic confusion regarding present species and congeners.