Houbara Bustard

The quality of the birding on Fuerteventura is excellent but it is the desert birds that command the most attention, particularly the Houbara Bustard with its quirky display behaviour. Whilst their locations are well known, finding one depends a lot on good fortune. I have to say that if it hadn't been for the information I received from other kind birders I would probably have dipped this species. Having missed a bird on Tindaya Plain the previous day my confidence levels were low. Never mind I was in the right place at the right time and two very kind birders from Germany allowed me to share an hour of great spectacle.

I had left the hotel in the dark, heading for Rosa de los Negrines, just a few kilometres north west of La Oliva, following the directions of another birder. The bird normally produces its display early morning and late in the day, the rest of the time it skulks in the desert landscape and is very difficult to find.

This particular bird was fairly distant and given the early light I struggled to get any quality in the shots and I was unprepared for how fast the bird moves during the actual display - headless chicken act is a most appropriate description, as it buries its head in a shower of white breast feathers and runs round in a circle. Today this happened twice and I didn't really connect. I had the impression that the bird would have remained in the vicinity if it had not been for two mountain bikers and a succession of high speed lorries making their way to the quarry at the end of the track, it finally departed, creeping north into the fenced off area.

 

 

 

 

Rosa de los Negrines from the Houbara location