FLYING HIGH

PORTUGAL’S MOST PROMISCUOUS BIRDS

Crossing the border between the Algarve and the Alentejo, close to Castro Verde, the A2 motorway bisects a Special Protection Area, the Campo Branco. It is here that Europe’s largest flying bird can be found, the Great Bustard. Carolyn Kain went to watch

Leading a polygamous lifestyle, the Great Bustard males hang out in small groups known as ‘leks’ and their only role is to attract and fertilise as many females as possible.

Even out of the mating season these birds are impressive and if you want to see them then the environmental centre at Vale Goncalinho is a good place to start. Signposted from Castro Verde, once you arrive the guides are very helpful suggesting likely places to best see the birdlife. In winter the area is populated by large numbers of Little Bustards – closely related to the Great Bustard – flocks of Lapwings, Calandra Larks and Golden Plovers. Cranes and Red Kites also winter in the area.

The star of the Campo Branco Show is undoubtedly the Great Bustard. It is as tall as the commonly-seen White Stork but it is a much bulkier bird. Adult males weigh in at 18kg and are 50 per cent heavier than the females. The courtship – which usually happens in March – is variously described in bird guides and nature books as a wonder of the ornithological world.

The male’s whiskers become erect covering his face with a huge white moustache and the gular pouches, between his throat and breast, are inflated into powder puff balloons. With wings that stretch down and backwards, the bird appears to turn itself inside out looking like a can-can dancer. What is basically a brown bird becomes a fluffy ball of white, stamping his feet and wheeling around. The pouches swing rhythmically back and forth giving the female a hypnotic signal and the urge to copulate. The pair bond between Great Bustards lasts exactly that long. Once satisfied, the male with tail still erect stalks off across a sea of grass looking for the ‘lek’ or another passing female. It is a good thing that his sexual appetite is so healthy since Great Bustards are an endangered species. They have suffered a serious decline across Europe due to changing agricultural practices. During the 18th century, when many forests were cleared, numbers were at their highest. Later they declined as meadows and grasslands were replaced with arable land. Throughout the 20th century farming mechanisation, the use of pesticides, the planting of commercial trees and hunting have contributed towards falling numbers.

Fortunately, the undulating countryside around Castro Verde is an ideal habitat. Termed ‘pseudo-steppe,’ the area has been created by the extensive cultivation of cereal crops in a cycle of planting and resting. As the thin soil cannot support crops year on year, there is a mosaic of cultivated and fallow land. These are ideal conditions for so called steppe birds requiring a diet of plants and seeds, invertebrates, reptiles and small mammals. Many of them are resident like the Great Bustard and others migratory like Lesser Kestrels and Rollers.

TALKING POINTS...

Great Bustards are mostly spotted pecking on the ground and visitors are asked to adhere to a code when observing them. They are exceedingly nervous birds, partly due to their great weight and consequent difficulty in getting airborne. *Keep to an absolute minimum distance of 600 metres * Stay part of the car – you can get out but don’t separate yourself visually from the car * Stay on public roads and tracks * Keep your movements gentle and be quiet * Keep your observations to 20 minutes or less * Drive away slowly