Great Bustard Group

Our visits are always very popular all year round, however if you’ve been waiting for the males to start displaying before booking your visit, then consider this your official nudge! Visits can be booked via store.greatbustard.org/book-online

It's a little bit blustery out on the Plain today!

Longleat's 2025 Festival of Light celebrated British Icons, including the Great Bustard, Wiltshire's county bird. We are grateful to @Longleat for donating the lantern to the GBG visitor centre and supporting the restoration of this remarkable species.

A powerful size comparison, male Great Bustards can stand almost as tall as a roe deer. Male Great Bustards are among the heaviest flying birds in the world, and scenes like this highlight just how impressive their size really is. Thanks to Shannon Norris for the picture.

@jonnycaribouthe There are various spots around Salisbury Plain, the females are incredibly secretive around their nesting sites. We do take people out to find the birds in Landrovers, learn more about Great Bustards and the project, visits can be booked at store.greatbustard.org/book-online

@bustardgroup Where is a good place to view the lek please as would love to see them?

Whiskers looking immaculate, full breeding plumage, and all strutting about like they own the place. The lek is clearly on the horizon… and the males are all ready for it!

The last few weeks have seen our volunteers hard at work preparing the reserve for breeding season. By creating a mosaic of grassland and vegetation, we’re helping Great Bustards nest, supporting wildlife and boosting biodiversity. Huge thanks to our amazing volunteers!

As the days start to lengthen, the males are beginning to develop their breeding plumage. A new set of whiskers are showing on this male and in the coming weeks we will see them develop a band of deep russet coloured feathers around their neck and breast too.

A flying Great Bustard has to be one of the most spectacular sights on Salisbury Plain. We run regular guided visits throughout the year and our booking slots for 2026 are now open. For more information and booking please visit store.greatbustard.org/book-online

Wishing you all a Christmas full of cheer, warmth, and maybe a little festive strutting! Thank you to our fantastic supporters and volunteers for all of your help over the last year.

A special moment caught on the reserve last week, a mother feeding her 5 month old #offspring. We will see this year's youngsters stay with their mothers until around mid January. #TheKidsAreAlright

After weeks on Salisbury Plain,this years head started juveniles are now dispersing. Recent sightings have come from Dorset, Somerset & Wiltshire. Every report helps us track their journeys and guide future conservation. Please send sightings to: enquiries@greatbustard.org

New for Spring 2026 and the perfect Christmas present!A guided visit to see the Bustards, breakfast and a presentation about the history of the group and our efforts to bring them back! April 15th, 2026, 0730 or 0830 slots available. Bookings - store.greatbustard.org/book-online

Red 75 is still seen regularly with the female youngster she hatched this Spring around our reserve. She is easily identifiable by her leg ring, but unusually she also has very pale eyes rather than dark brown, a trait she has passed down to her daughter too.

Our visits and photo hide booking slots are now online for 2026.Thanks to our volunteers, we have been able to add some weekend visits for the rest of this year too, these will likely book up quickly.Please see greatbustard.org/visit/ for more information, booking and vouchers.

A drove of female Great Bustards feeding and preening in the early Autumn sunshine this morning. This groups numbers have continued to slowly rise over the last few weeks, as the birds begin to form single sex groups ahead of the Winter months.

Although faded,the leg rings on these females have identified them as Orange 17 and Orange 18, both rescued as eggs from silage cutting in Wiltshire,then after being hand reared, released together in 2020. This year they have both nested and are rearing chicks in the same field.

@mattthesparrow @RichBond11 @robmhowe65 @WiltsBirdClub Really special to see this today, thanks @mattthesparrow for showing me. Nightjars and Great Bustards just meters away from each other, mind blown by 0800hrs on a Sunday morning! 🤯

Nightjar migration through Salisbury Plain has been an outright best-ever. We have ringed 19 so far (previous best year was 5). We ringed this one on 14 August and retrapped it today 3km away. We have had records before of two that have stayed a week but again this is a record.

When that Friday feeling hits! 💃🏻 Please remember we have our open weekend on the 6/7th of Sept, we have many different speakers and will be running trips from Enford Village Hall, to see the Great Bustards. Please pre book your trip to see the birds via store.greatbustard.org/booking-calend…

This year's chicks continue to grow steadily and we have been watching them start to forage and feed a little more independently in recent weeks. It won't be much longer before we see their first attempts at short flights! 📸 : Maureen May.