Houbara bustard display on the Canary steppes

Canarian houbara (Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae) — c. 800 birds on Fuerteventura and Lanzarote; cream-coloured courser, black-bellied sandgrouse, stone-curlew, lesser short-toed lark, Barbary falcon. Fuerteventura (El Cotillo, Tindaya) and Lanzarote (El Jable), Canary Islands, Spain.

Best time: 1 Jan – 28 Feb (January to February). Where: El Cotillo plains (Fuerteventura), Tindaya plains (Fuerteventura), El Jable, Teguise (Lanzarote) (Spain). Time of day: Be at the viewpoint before dawn: displays run from first light to about 2 h after sunrise and briefly before sunset.

• You can go on your own
• Free
• Telescope recommended
• Sound 1/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 1 Jan – 28 Feb. January and February: males strut and 'white-ball' on their dispersed leks at first light; courtship runs December to March, eggs February to April

Active from 1 Dec to 31 Mar (December to March) in a typical year.

Time of day

Be at the viewpoint before dawn: displays run from first light to about 2 h after sunrise and briefly before sunset; by mid morning the birds are walking in the shimmer and almost invisible.

• Dawn display: 30 min before sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
• Evening display: 90 min before sunset → sunset

What will you hear?

Silent theatre: a male running in circles with neck plumes thrown over his head like a white ball, visible for a kilometre at dawn. The soundscape is the trade wind, lesser short-toed larks, stone-curlews and coursers at first light — the plains are otherwise among the quietest places in Spain.

Binoculars?

Telescope recommended. Males display 300 m to a kilometre away on open stony plains; a scope is essential, binoculars find the white 'ball' first.

Where to go

• El Cotillo plains (Fuerteventura) — Stony plain south-east of El Cotillo with a low observation rise; birds to the south and north; reach on foot or bike from the village, no hide, no shade. Map
• Tindaya plains (Fuerteventura) — Plains around the sacred mountain of Tindaya; watch from the tracks. Map
• El Jable, Teguise (Lanzarote) — Sand plain between Sóo and Famara — Lanzarote's main houbara steppe (c. 570 birds on the island). Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

El Cotillo: from the village take the unpaved track south-east on to the plain before dawn (on foot, bike or car on the existing track) and wait at the low rise; stay on the track. Tindaya: the tracks off the FV-10 around Tindaya village. Lanzarote: the LZ-401/LZ-402 tracks across El Jable between Sóo and Famara. All free, no permits; no off-road driving.

Cost: Free.

Field-recording notes

A visual event on open ground where the trade wind blows all day; the quietest hours are the hour before sunrise, which is also the display hour. Houbaras are endangered and extremely wary (20 m take-off distance): stay on the tracks, never walk towards a displaying male, never drive off-road (the steppes are SPAs and off-piste driving is illegal). Power lines and fences kill birds that flush — don't flush them. Tourist traffic starts at El Cotillo from 09:00.

Sources

• LIFE Hubara Canarias (SEO/BirdLife) – population and SPAs
• Birdingplaces – El Cotillo plains (dawn watch, access)
• Wikipedia – Canarian houbara (courtship December–March)

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More: all spectacles in Spain · leks · Spain in January · Spain in February