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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing kori bustards. These are considered some of the heaviest flying birds alive today, though they don’t often fly. Kori bustards reach sizes over 40 pounds (18kg) in weight and four feet (1.3m) tall in males with females maxing out at about half that size. For reference, that’s about the same height as an eight year old human child and less than twenty pounds (9kg) lighter. And they can fly! Though like we mentioned this isn’t a typical occurrence. Kori bustards spend most of their time in wide open grasslands and lighty wooded savannahs and scrublands. They normally get around by walking, however, they will fly if they’re startled by predators. Luckily for these big birds, they have friends in high places. Kori busters may be alerted to predators via their mutualistic relationship with bee-eaters. Bee-eaters are another type of bird who commonly sit on the kori bustards’ backs and eat the food the bustards stir up while walking. If these bee-eaters sense a nearby predator, they’ll let out a call to warn the kori bustard of the danger.

Predators to kori busters include lions, leopards, and other wild cats as well as jackals and birds of prey. When faced with a predator, they’ll puff up their feathers to look more intimidating and try to bluff their way out of an encounter. If this doesn’t work, they’ll take to the skies, though never for long periods of time. Kori bustards themselves are omnivores eating animals like insects, rodents, lizards and more as well as plants like berries and seeds. They may live alone, in small groups, or larger flocks, though they tend to come together for breeding season. These birds live in Africa but in a fragmented range. Those living more North have an offset breeding season to those living further South. Male kori bustards gather together in mating display groups, called leks. They’ll puff up their feathers and dance for the ladies. Once a male has enticed a female, they mate for mere seconds and then the male returns to displaying in order to mate with other females. Lady kori bustards are left to make nests, which are just swallow scrapes in the ground, incubate eggs, and raise chicks on their own. Typically two eggs are laid and incubated for just under a month. The babies are able to fly within five months but remain with their mother until the following year. These birds reach sexual maturity between two and five years of age.

Kori bustards don’t have the gland found in many other bird species used for preening, so, instead, they take dust baths to clean themselves off. Another odd trait about these birds when compared to other birds is that they actually drink water via a sucking motion, something almost entirely absent in other bird species, who instead drink water via a scooping motion. Pigeons are some other water sucking birds. Anthropogenic, or human related, threats to kori bustards include habitat loss and run-ins with power lines. Currently, it’s not known how long kori bustards live in the wild but have lived past 25 years of age in captivity!

For more facts on kori bustards, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Tristian and Atrocious Allosaurus for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!