Savile's Bustard

Adults have short thin necks and legs, with a large head. The top of head and lower fore-neck are grey with a black streak centrally located on the chin and a small white shoulder strap on each side of the base neck. The upper parts of the bird are pale with black streaks and arrowhead markings. Bill is yellowish, the culmen brownish, the iris pale clayey specked with feet a yellowish clayey colour. Wings are 10 inches 10 inches (25 cm) and tail approximately 5 inches (13 cm). The terminal thirds of their feathers are pale beige which creates a visual distinction between their quills and the rest of the upper parts. Flight feathers are blackish with slender beige bars and the tips black. Males have completely black underparts and show a tuft of rufous feathers on their nape during display. Females look visually similar to males however, lack the blue-grey and black markings on their head. Females have a white throat and the black underparts restricted to the belly.

Found in the hotspots of the Bustard species which includes arid and semi-arid habitats. They live in bush and light woodland, near dried pools and clearings, and flat shrubs with Aristida grass and Acacia raddiana. This is similar to the rest of the family Otididae, which typically live in temperate and tropical lowland dry grassland habitats. Found in SW Mauritania and Senegal E through Mali, Burkina Faso, SW Niger, NE Nigeria, and Chad to C Sudan. The Savile's bustard used to be thought as restricted to the Sahel biome but has now been seen to have expanded southwards.

Not much is known about this bustard's diet however it has been seen to be an important bird predator species to the grasshopper species, Senegalese Grasshopper in Senegal.