NARC participates at ADIHEX 2007

Notes and media contacts

Lifecycle:
Houbara may live for more than 15 years.
Male houbara generally do not breed before they are at least 2 years old.
Female houbara can lay eggs when they are 1 year old, although most start laying in their second year.
Chicks:
Female houbara can lay 2 - 5 eggs on average each year in the wild.
Female houbara incubate eggs until they hatch after 23 days.
Chicks leave the nest on the day they hatch
Chicks can fly for short distances when they are just two months old, although they are only fully able to fly after about 6 months.
Migration:
During winter, houbara migrate from Central Asia to the southern Asian countries bordering the Arabian Gulf and to the Arabia Peninsula. They fly back north when winter is over.
Long migrant houbara fly up to 4000 - 7000 km from their breeding grounds to the areas where they winter.
During their migration houbara fly an average of 80 - 220 km per day, which includes stopovers when they may rest and feed for several days.
Houbara prefer to fly during daytime, and at night in rare cases.
Individual houbara are known to follow similar migration routes over successive years.
Feathers:

Houbara have sandy-mottled feathers that give them good camouflage.
Houbara are characterized with easy-to-pluck-out tail feathers; this helps them escape their predators' claws.
Male houbara have longer neck feathers than the female to help them display during the breeding season.
Houbara puff up their feathers to look larger in size as a threat to frighten their predators.
Like other birds, female houbara can give their predators the false impression that they are weak and can mislead them away from the nest by performing the 'broken wing' display after which they can run or fly away.
Eyes:
Houbara have large eyes centred at the head to cover a large field of view.
Houbara are characterized by sharp-sightedness and cautious behaviour
Feet:
Houbara are long-legged, making long distances easy to walk.
Houbara prefer to walk in search of food.
Houbara have three long and strong toed feet, giving them a characteristic and identifiable footprint.
Houbara males use their legs to dance and make brisk paces during the breeding season.
Bedouins are experts in tracking houbara; they can tell their age, sex, arrival time, whether or not they hungry by examining their traces.
Feed:
Houbara feed on green plants, flowers, insects, lizards and small rodents.

For further information, please contact:
Dhababa Saeed Al Romaithi
Office: 03 73 47 555
Fax: 03 73 47 607