The Great Bustard possibly possesses the widest range of any threatened species of bird, distributed as it is from close to the Atlantic seaboard in Iberia and Morocco across to the Pacific coast of China, a distance of about 10,000 km.

The global population currently totals approximately 44,000 to 51,000 individuals (Palacin & Alonso 2008). The majority of these - about 38,000 to 47,000 - live in Europe. The largest subpopulations are found in central Spain, southern Russia and the Great Hungarian Plain. At around 30,000 individuals more than half of the world's population is at home in Spain. Among the "MoU countries" (signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of the Middle-European Population of the Great Bustard), Hungary has the largest Great Bustard population with approximately 1,378 individuals, followed by Ukraine and Austria.

Distribution of the Great Bustard in Europe and population numbers in 2008

The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) originates in steppe areas. Fossil finds show that bustards occurred in the "polar steppes" of central Europe in the wake of the last ice age. As forests took over in large areas of Europe, suitable habitat for the species shrank significantly. Then, following extensive medieval deforestation, the Great Bustard became a common sight in European agricultural areas, reaching its widest distribution in the 17th and 18th centuries. Around the year 1800, Great Bustards populated Europe's large-scale agricultural landscapes in abundant numbers, breeding from England and Scotland in the west to Denmark and southern Sweden in the north. In Russia, the northern range limit lay some 500 km further north than it does today.

As the medieval system of cultivating arable land in 3-year rotations came to an end, diversity of food resources for Great Bustards decreased. In modern times, especially from the middle of the 19th century on, intensification of agriculture and later the erection of overhead power lines (medium and high voltage) lead to populations in Europe suffering severe declines and many subpopulations becoming extinct. The first populations to die out were those at the range limits in the west (England 1845) and north (Sweden 1862), where in addition to everything else climatic conditions were unfavourable. England embarked on a large-scale reintroduction programme a few years ago.

Austria

Austria's bustard population is located at the northwestern edge of the third largest European distribution "cluster" of Great Bustards in the Great Hungarian Plain. The Austrian population is centred around the Western Weinviertel, the Marchfeld and the Rauchenwarther Platte in Lower Austria, and the Heideboden, the Parndorfer Platte and the Hanság / Seewinkel in Burgenland.

The total Austrian population declined from 700-800 individuals in the middle of the 20th century (1942) to 150-170 in 1970-72, decreasing further to approximately 100 in 1978, and finally reaching about 60 individuals at the end of the century. Following a slight recovery in numbers and recolonization of "Austrian" breeding sites in the cross-border population from western Hungary, the population was back up to 210 individuals in the breeding season of 2008.

Population numbers of the Great Bustard in Austria
in 1940 and in the period 1970 to 2008; source: Raab (2009).

In the period since 1990, populations in two Austrian areas increased markedly, in the Heideboden and the Western Weinviertel. In the Hanság, Parndorfer Platte and Rauchenwarther Platte areas the populations remained more or less stable at a low level over the same period. In the Marchfeld area the population decreased drastically from 25 to 6 individuals from 1990 to 2000, subsequently stabilising at a low level and most recently beginning to show a slight upward trend again. In the Vienna basin south of the river Danube small breeding populations persisted into the second half of the 20th century. Only individual breeding occurrences now remain on the Rauchenwarther Platte. Not counting this site, there were more than 100 bustards in the Vienna basin around 1940; numbers dropped to only 2 individuals in 1990 and the population has become extinct since.

In December of 2002, around 200 Great Bustards were counted in Austria for the first time in a long period, because part of the Hungarian and Slovakian populations close to the border were staying in the attractive wintering grounds of Burgenland. In January and February of 2004 numbers even rose to 219 birds, 176 out of which were counted in northern Burgenland alone. At the same time a further 32 bustards stayed on the Hungarian side close to the border, making the total for the West-Pannonian population, i.e. the cross-border Austro-Hungarian-Slovak-Czech population 251 Great Bustards in winter 2003/04. This total rose to 396 individuals in the winter of 2008/09. This high value was reached only in December due to some bustards staying outside of the typical wintering areas. In February 2009 “only” 376 bustards were observed. Winter numbers of the West-Pannonian population therefore increased from 129 in 1995/96 to at least 376 in 2007/08. In February of 2007, 2008 and 2009 nearly the whole West-Pannonian population of Great Bustard could be found in the attractive wintering grounds of Burgenland and Lower Austria. Long since more than 300 bustards could be found in Austria for the last 3 winters.

Detailed information on population development of Great Bustard in Austria as well as the whole West-Pannonian population can be found in the publication of Raab et. al (2010), which was published in March 2010 in “Egretta”, the scientific journal of BirdLife Austria. Information about implemented conservation projects can be found there as well.
Citation: Raab, R., Kollar, H. P., Winkler, H., Faragó, S., Spakovszky, P., Chavko, J., Maderič, B., Škorpíková, V., Patak, E., Wurm, H., Julius, E., Raab S. and Schütz, C. (2010): Die Bestandsentwicklung der westpannonischen Population der Großtrappe, Otis tarda Linnaeus 1758, von 1900 bis zum Winter 2008/2009. Egretta 51: 74-99.

Egretta im März 2010 (pdf, 1,2 MB)

Numerous informations and pictures you will find in the illustrated book „Die Großtrappe in Mitteleuropa. Erfolgreicher Schutz der westpannonischen Population“ from Raab, R., Kovacs, F. J., Julius, E., Raab, S., Schütz, C., Spakovszky, P. und Timar, J., which was produced in 2010 within the LIFE project. The number of copies is 1,500. The printing costs were paid from the project partner Austrian Power Grid AG.
Citation: Raab, R., Kovacs, F. J., Julius, E., Raab, S., Schütz, C., Spakovszky, P. und Timar, J. (2010): Die Großtrappe in Mitteleuropa. Erfolgreicher Schutz der westpannonischen Population. APG, Wien, 304 S.

Illustrated book “Die Großtrappe in Mitteleuropa. Erfolgreicher Schutz der westpannonischen Population"

Part 1: hardcover (1,2 MB)

Part 2: core (16,5 MB)