Great Bustard (Otis tarda)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Regionally Extinct (GB scale) (Breeding) [RE(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Otis tarda |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Linnaeus, 1758 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Gt Bustard Project no longer releases birds, but collects clutches for headstarting. The rate of natural productivity alone is unlikely to be viable |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Evaluation necessary to confirm demographic rates, identify causes of nest failure / reduced survival, trial solutions and develop interventions. Ground nesting in arable farmland, the species will remain conservation dependent as prone to nest failure due to farm management. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | The species would benefit from arable reversion to open semi-natural habitats, but noting large areas of suitable habitat remain unoccupied so not currently limiting. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Climate change |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - insufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Annual productivity monitoring to assist with evaluation and identifying remedies and next step actions
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Wiltshire
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Nest finding using thermal drone and seek subsequent nest protection (both crop sacrifice and predator fencing) in arable areas.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Special (in situ) measure
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Wiltshire
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Continue headstarting to boost productivity as necessary dependent on productivity monitoring results.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Wilts
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.