Project partners

Latest News

Black 17 back in the UK

In November last year Black 17, a two year old female bustard, became the first adult bustard from the project to migrate to France. She wintered with a flock of several hundred cranes on the west coast of France, near La Rochelle, and had not been reported since 27th February. Not surprisingly, we were very excited [...]

Bustards looking their best

Several displaying male bustards are currently a daily sight at our release site. The most impressive of these is Purple 5, the oldest male great bustard living in the wild in the UK. Dave Kjaer has recently taken this superb series of photographs of P5 looking his absolute best. Visits to the project through March and April are [...]

Helping bustards in the snow

As birds which live and feed on the ground, deep snow can be a serious problem for great bustards. We are lucky that in southern England, cold snaps tend to be short and far apart. In countries like Germany, Hungary and Austria, bustards often make cold weather movements, escaping from particularly severe winter weather. This exposes them to [...]

In the summer of 2009 the RSPB joined the Great Bustard Consortium (GBC), joining the GBG and the University of Bath. Together these organisations will make an immeasurable difference to the future of the Great Bustard in Britain.

Great Bustard Group (associated beneficiary)

The Great Bustard Group is a UK Registered Charity (number 1092515) that aims to establish a self-sustaining population of Great Bustards in the UK and create practical conservation measures for Great Bustards in Saratov, Russia. The group was created in 1998 to restore the Great Bustard (Otis tarda) population in the UK and to conserve existing Great Bustards throughout their range, particularly in Saratovskya, Russia. On Salisbury Plain a small bustard population is being created by releasing a number of birds each year.

The RSPB (co-ordinating beneficiary)

The RSPB is the largest wildlife conservation organisation in Europe with over one million members. It speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten our environment. Bird populations reflect the health of the planet on which our future depends. The RSPB became an official partner of the Great Bustard Consortium in August 2009.

Visit the RSPB website »

Natural England (associated beneficiary)

Natural England is an independent public body whose purpose is to protect and improve England’s natural environment and encourage people to enjoy and get involved in their surroundings. Natural England have been involved in the Great Bustard Reintroduction project since its inception, particularly the licensing aspects and the monitoring of released birds.

Visit the Natural England website »

University of Bath (associated beneficiary)

The University of Bath ranks highly in the league tables of UK universities published by a number of national newspapers, including the Times, Independent and Guardian. Its research is internationally respected, and its students are in demand by employers because of the high quality of the teaching offered there. There will be two fulltime posts dedicated to the monitoring of the birds.

Visit the University of Bath website »

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