Australian bustard
Ardeotis australis (J. E. Gray, 1829)
The Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis) is a species in the family Otididae, order Otidiformes. Recorded adults weigh 2.93 kg to 5.97 kg. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the Australian bustard
- Weight
- 2.93 kg – 5.97 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 24 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.4 – 1.56src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the Australian bustard live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The Australian bustard is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the Australian bustard?
The Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis) is a large ground-dwelling bird that is common in grassland, woodland and open agricultural country across northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It stands at about one metre (3 ft 3 in) high, and its wingspan is around twice that length. The species is nomadic, flying to areas when food becomes plentiful, and capable of travelling long distances. They were once widespread and common to the open plains of Australia, but became rare in regions that have been used for farming. The bustard is omnivorous, mostly consuming the fruit or seed of plants, but also eating invertebrates such as crickets, grasshoppers, smaller mammals, birds and reptiles.
The species is also commonly referred to as the plains turkey, and in Central Australia as the bush turkey, particularly by Aboriginal people, who hunt it, although the latter name may also be used for the Australian brushturkey, as well as the orange-footed scrubfowl.
From the Wikipedia article “Australian bustard” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Australian_bustard&oldid=1375664689), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the Australian bustard endangered?
The Australian bustard is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Australian bustard classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderOtidiformes
- familyOtididae
- genusArdeotis
- SpeciesArdeotis australis (J. E. Gray, 1829)
Synonyms Austrotis australis, Austrotis australis melvillensis, Choriotis australis, Choriotis australis derbyi, Otis australis, Otis novaehollandiae
Other names and names in other languages (32)
- حبارى أستراليةArabic
- Австралийска дроплаBulgarian
- pioc salvatge australiàCatalan
- drop australskýCzech
- Australsk TrappeDanish
- WammentrappeGerman
- aŭstralia otidoEsperanto
- Avutarda australianaSpanish
- austraalia trappEstonian
- australiantrappiFinnish
- Outarde d'AustralieFrench
- Outarde d’AustralieFrench
- australska dropljaCroatian
- Kalkun-padang australiaIndonesian
- Otarda australianaItalian
- オーストラリアオオノガンJapanese
- australinis didysis einisLithuanian
- Australische TrapDutch
- australtrappeNorwegian
- Garlirnangganrl
- drop australijskiPolish
- abetarda-australianaPortuguese
- Австралийская дрофаRussian
- Австралийская большая дрофаRussian
- drop zásternatýSlovak
- Australijska dropljaSerbian
- australisk trappSwedish
- Avustralya ToyuTurkish
- дрохва австралійськаUkrainian
- 澳洲鴇Chinese
- 澳洲鷺鴇Chinese
- 澳洲鹭鸨Chinese
Relatives of the Australian bustard
Other species in the same genus Ardeotis.
Great Indian bustard
Ardeotis nigriceps
Kori bustard
Ardeotis kori
Arabian bustard
Ardeotis arabs
CompareAustralian bustard vs Great Indian bustardAustralian bustard vs Kori bustardAustralian bustard vs Arabian bustard
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the Australian bustard?
An adult Australian bustard weighs 2.93 kg – 5.97 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the Australian bustard live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the Australian bustard for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the Australian bustard endangered?
The Australian bustard is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the Australian bustard?
The Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis) belongs to the family Otididae in the order Otidiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/australian-bustard
“Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/australian-bustard.
@misc{australian_bustard_2026,
title = {Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/australian-bustard},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}