Little Bustard

Tetrax tetrax

Order: Otidiformes
Family: Otididae
Presence in the Strait: Resident
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Vulnerable · Andalusian Catalogue
In Spanish: Sisón común

Photograph: Настя Бухвалова, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 40–45 cm
Wingspan: 105–115 cm
Weight: 825 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce resident of crop areas.

Identification

Much smaller than the Great Bustard, with cryptic plumage and contrasting wing pattern only seen when the birds fly. Easier to locate by the repetitive, short, dry call of males: “prrt”. In spring, males have a striking black pattern on the neck that disappears in winter, when males and females look alike, except for a loosely defined collar at the base of the neck.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

30 %

Peak in April. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 9.0 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

Sensitive species (very scarce breeder, sensitive to disturbance): its observations are shown with the location generalised to about 11 km, here and in the explorer. The original source keeps the exact position.

First open record: 25 March 1973
Latest record: 7 March 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Vulnerable
Spanish Catalogue: In danger of extinction
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: EN · Endangered · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): NT · Near threatened

Plan: AVES ESTEPARIAS · Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Otidiformes
Family: Otididae
GBIF taxon key: 5228228

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Настя Бухвалова, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Little Bustard

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery