What Is a Group of Bustards Called?
One of the heaviest flying birds on Earth, with a name to match its size.
A group of bustards is called a flock, with wake also listed as an alternate. Bustards are large, heavy-bodied ground birds, with the great bustard ranking among the heaviest living birds capable of flight.
What Is a Group of Bustards Called?
Flock is the general term for a group of bustards, while wake appears in some historical wordlists as a rarer alternate, more commonly associated elsewhere with scavenging birds like vultures gathered around a carcass.
Where Did the Name Come From?
“Flock” is the standard, general-purpose English collective noun applied broadly across bird species, while some of the more unusual or borrowed terms attached to less commonly discussed birds like the bustard don’t always come with a clear, well-documented explanation. Bustards are ground-dwelling birds of open grassland and steppe, so their groupings are typically observed feeding or displaying together on open terrain rather than in flight.
Bustard Facts
- Among the heaviest flying birds: the great bustard is one of the heaviest living birds capable of flight, with males weighing up to around 40 pounds.
- Elaborate courtship display: male great bustards perform a striking display, inflating throat sacs and turning their feathers nearly inside-out to appear as a large white ball to attract females.
- Ground specialists: bustards spend the vast majority of their time walking on open grassland, flying only when necessary given the energy cost of getting such a heavy body airborne.
- Declining populations: several bustard species face significant population declines due to habitat loss from agricultural expansion across their grassland and steppe habitats.
Example Sentences
- A flock of bustards moved slowly across the open steppe, foraging as they went.
- Conservationists tracked a small flock of bustards on the protected grassland reserve.
🧠 Test Your Bustard Knowledge
Three quick questions. See what stuck.
1. What is the general term for a group of bustards?
2. What makes the great bustard notable among flying birds?
3. How does the male great bustard attract mates?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a group of bustards called?
A flock, with wake also listed as a rarer alternate.
How heavy can a bustard get?
The great bustard is one of the heaviest living birds capable of flight, with males weighing up to around 40 pounds.
How do male bustards attract mates?
Male great bustards inflate throat sacs and turn their feathers nearly inside-out, appearing as a large white ball to attract females.
Are bustards endangered?
Several bustard species face significant population declines due to habitat loss from agricultural expansion.
Heavy Birds, Open Skies
A flock of bustards is a reminder that flight comes at a real cost, and few birds pay that cost quite as visibly as this one.