Bustards have stout bodies with long legs and long necks. The bills tend to be short and straight. Male bustards’ lengths is around 41 inches (105 cm) and weight between 13 - 40 pounds (2,3 to 18 kilograms) with 1.5 m wingspread. Female Houbara Bustards are smaller. They don’t have oil glands as other birds. Bustards are generally pale. The Asian bustard is known as black with nice feathers. The back is brownish, with either white or dark bellies. Some bustard species have white or black patches on the wings In a number of bustards, males also have long feathers on the head, neck, or chest that are used to attract females. Great bustards live in large groups, or in single patterns. During the breeding season, bustards separate in couples, in wide areas. Mostly, they fly at night & don’t need water; however, they fly around the water areas. Bustards have scattered distribution and found mainly in the southern pole, stretched to occupy the Canary Islands from the West to the North of China in the East. Bustards migrate from the Ex Union of Soviet in autumn. In spring they fly back to their habitats. There are very huge populations of Houbara in the Arab World and especially in the UAE. The efforts of the National Commission for Wild Life Conservation & Development, helped in increasing the numbers of these Houbara. This commission is providing a very high protection for Houbara, since they are the best quarry for falconry. With efforts underway to save the houbara by centers such as NARC in the UAE as well as comparable centers in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, the species may still survive.
In some species of bustards males and females are similarly patterned, while males are brighter in other species. Houbara bustards are the best kind of quarries for hawking, since they are tasty; the reason why they are increasing in the Arab World. They were greatly sold in the past & now a day in the markets. They are most available in Iraq, Arab Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and some other Gulf Countries.
Houbara bustards live in large groups, with the males and females found in separate groups. Houbara prefers to live on ground more than flying; however, when it feels in danger, it flies very quickly. It stretches its neck to the front & leg back to be straight with its whole body. It has been known as the fastest kind of birds & has high amount of tolerance. It needs to maneuver when it is followed by the falcons, and causes harms for the falcon.