Asian houbara
bird species
The Asian houbara (Chlamydotis macqueenii), also known as MacQueen's bustard, is a large bird in the bustard family. It is native to the desert and steppe regions of Asia, east from the Sinai Peninsula extending across Iran and further north toward Kazakhstan and Mongolia. In the 19th century, vagrants were found as far west of their range as Great Britain. Populations have decreased by 20–50% between 1984 and 2004 mainly due to hunting and changes in land-use. The Asian houbara is a partial latitudinal migrant while the African houbara (C. undulata) is more sedentary. These two species are the only members of the genus Chlamydotis. The Asian houbara used to be regarded as a subspecies of the African houbara.
Taxonomy
Otis macqueenii was proposed by John Edward Gray in 1834 for a bustard from India drawn by Thomas Hardwicke.
It was long regarded a subspecies of the African houbara Chlamydotis undulata. It was classified as a distinct species in 2003.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Asian houbara” as bird species. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as bird species. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1262382. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1984, 2004, 1834 and 2003.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Asian houbara” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.