Laura Erickson's For the Birds

I’ve seen two different species of bustards (birds in the family Otididae). I saw the Great Bustard in Austria in 2014 and the Black-bellied Bustard in Uganda in 2016. But I’ve never seen a Kori Bustard or the three other extremely large bustards belonging to Ardeotis, which are found from Africa to India to Australia. The Kori Bustard, found throughout southern Africa except in densely wooded areas, holds a cool place in the Guinness Book of World Records:

Kori Bustard: Heaviest flying bird. The world’s heaviest flying bird is the kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) of South and East Africa, males of which can weigh up to 40 lb (18.14 kg) ─ the weight of the largest confirmed specimen, as documented in 1936. It was shot in South Africa by H.T. Glynn, and its head and neck were later presented by Glynn to the British Museum, London, UK.