Description:

Small, stocky bustard with white panel across secondaries and inner primaries. Breeding male has grey face, and black-and-white pattern on neck and breast. Female is warm buff-brown, with extensive black streaking on head and neck; has coarse blackish markings on upperparts, and black barring and chevrons on breast and flanks.

Distribution:

Rare winter visitor to the central areas of Ghizer and Gilgit districts. Prefers steppe and steppe-like landscapes preferably with vegetation, open grasslands, rough plains, short-grass pastures and crop fields, up to 2500m.

Behavior:

Often gregarious on wintering grounds. At a distance flocks in flight can appear pigeon-like, with rapid wing beats and noticeably bowed wings. Diet consists of beetles, grasshoppers and other terrestrial invertebrates; also much plant material such as shoots, leaves, flower heads and seeds. Animals may predominate in the summer diet, plants in winter.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Little Bustard in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Little Bustard

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.