Green Group discussion

Bustards don't seem to be covered by other topics.

https://phys.org/news/2022-11-world-h...

"If you see a great bustard (Otis tarda) in the wild, you're unlikely to forget it. Massive, colorful, and impossible to mistake, they are the heaviest birds living today capable of flight, with the greatest size difference between the sexes. They are also "lek breeders," where males gather at chosen sites to put on an audiovisual show for the visiting females, who choose a mate based on his appearance and the quality of his showbirdship.
...

"Co-author Dr. Azucena Gonzalez-Coloma, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Madrid, said, "Great bustards seek out two species of weeds that are also used by humans in traditional medicine. We show that both contain antiprotozoal and nematicidal (ie, worm-killing) compounds, while the second also contains antifungal agents.""

More information: Luis M. Bautista-Sopelana et al, Bioactivity of plants eaten by wild birds against laboratory models of parasites and pathogens, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1027201

Journal information: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Where do bustards fit in the species classification?

The Gruiformes are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did not seem to belong to any other order were classified together as Gruiformes. Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruiformes

From 2021.

https://phys.org/news/2021-12-anthrop...

"A joint study by researchers from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Eurasian Bustard Alliance has found that anthropogenic disturbance is the main factor affecting the habitat quality of the great bustard population in Western China."

More information: Yingying Zhuo et al, Habitat suitability assessment for the Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda in Tacheng Basin, western China, Global Ecology and Conservation (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01926

Provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences