Observation de trois Grandes Outardes en Grèce

The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) is a large bird (wingspan : 190-260 cm, up to 18 kg) living in grasslands , agricultural habitats and pastures throughout its European range. It is globally threatened, classified as Vulnerable and is included in Annex I of the EU Wild Birds Directive. The European population is estimated to be between 23,790 and 30,483 individuals (data gathered at the 1994 workshop) but there has been a rapid decline in much of central and eastern Europe, due to the intensification of agricultural habitats and illegal hunting. The Great Bustard has gone extinct in Denmark, France, Sweden and Britain and Greece. In this last country, the last breeding has been recorded around the 1930’s, in the Thessalie Region.
In March 2005, 3 birds have been watched in a field near Aghioi Anargyroi, in the Larissa district. Michel Moschovis, member of the HOS (Hellenic Ornithological Society), and a friend of him, Êyriakos Tsipis,  watched the birds and photographied them.