A new assessment of the Little Bustard’s eastern populations, based on data from range states published in the recent special issue of Sandgrouse, describes mixed trends across four flyways within this range.
Critically low numbers of this species remain in the Black Sea flyway. If these are extirpated, the gulf between “western” populations of Little Bustard remaining in Iberia, France, and a small population in Italy, will widen further.
70,000-128,000 Little Bustards are estimated within the Caucasus flyway. Though population recoveries are reported at some breeding grounds within this flyway, the planned expansion of overhead powerlines across compact wintering grounds in Azerbaijan is expected to act as a countering force. This is because the Little Bustard, like other bustard species, is highly vulnerable to collisions with overhead cabling, and there is not yet scientific evidence supporting mitigation methods other than undergrounding or re-routing of lines (review paper, Silva et al. 2022, pdf).
The number of Little Bustards within the Turkestan flyway, which encompasses much of Kazakhstan, with overwintering sites in Turkmenistan and northeastern Iran, has proven most difficult to survey. Perhaps 25,000-50,000 individuals remain here. Widespread and ongoing construction of overhead powerlines that cross the migratory pathway are likely to cause increased mortality in coming years here as well.
A fragile Little Bustard population may also persist in south Asia, threatened primarily by hunting.
Overall, these “eastern” populations of Little Bustard now represent approximately two-thirds of the global population of this species. Agricultural re-intensification in Central Asia and Russia is expected to lower reproductive success and increase female mortality, as has been the case in Western Europe. Illegal hunting remains a serious cause for concern across all flyways.
Full article (pdf): Kessler, M., Campeau, L.-P., & Collar, N. J. 2025. Recovery at risk: a flyway-level population assessment of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in its eastern range. Sandgrouse 47(1) 6–25.
Photo: Attila Steiner, Shirvan National Park, Azerbaijan. Map: Louis-Philippe Campeau in Kessler et al. 2025.