H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

Kori Bustard – Spec. Name: Ardeotis kori

This is a large bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family. It may be the heaviest bird capable of flight.

The Kori Bustard is mostly grey in color, with a black crest on its head and yellow legs. Kori Bustards are often found with bee-eaters riding on their backs as they stride through the grass. The bee-eaters make the most of their walking perch by hawking insects from the bustard’s back that are disturbed by the bustard’s wandering. This is a large and heavy bird, and it avoids flying if possible. It spends most of its time on the ground, foraging for the seeds and lizards which make up most of its diet.

Kori Bustard

The male Kori Bustard averages about 110 cm (3.6 ft) in length, stands 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) tall and have a wingspan about cm 230 to 275 cm (7.5 to 9.02 ft). An average male bird would weigh about 12.4 kg (27 lb), but exceptional birds may weigh over 20 kg (44 lb). A report exists of a 34 kg (75 lb) bird, but it is not verified and must be held with skepticism because it so much heavier than any other recorded weight for a Kori Bustard. The female Kori Bustard averages 5.7 kg (13 lb) and is usually 20% shorter than a male.

Like all bustards, Kori Bustards have polygynous breeding habits, where one male displays to attract several females and mates with them all. He then leaves the females to care for the young by themselves. The females build a nest on the ground and incubate the eggs, foregoing eating for days. When the chicks hatch, the mother brings them a steady stream of food, most of it soft so the chicks can eat it easily.

Kori Bustards are omnivorous birds, although they tend to be more carnivorous than other species of bustards. Insects form a large portion of their diet, especially when they are chicks. They also eat a variety of small mammals, lizards, snakes, seeds, and berries of plants. They have been observed eating carrion. They are purported to eat the gum from the Acacia tree. Discrepancy exists however, as to whether they are eating the gum itself, or the insects that might be stuck to the gum. Kori Bustards are one of the few species of birds that drink water using a sucking motion rather than scooping it up as most birds do.