Great Bustard Otis tarda
Vagrant. Former resident, not bred since early 19th century.
The Lincolnshire Wolds were very different when Great Bustards roamed the county in the 18th century. Widespread rolling vistas with much less cultivation, few trees and no hedges. Think the plains of Extramadura! But the enclosures from the 1760s onwards, agricultural intensification and increased shooting pressure did for them and they had died out by 1810. All of the published records are historic, although some lack a specific date and may be unreliable but there is no way to check by modern standards and the published references here are relied on. A reintroduction attempt in Suffolk, involving the introduction of 15 birds from Spain, extended from 1900 to 1903. These were placed by Lord Walsingham on Lord Iveagh's estate at Elvedon, Norfolk. All 15 survived the winter (despite being pinioned), but they left their secure retreat of somer 800 acres, and later dispersed over the country. Several were shot, but the whereabouts of four only were known at the end of 1901 (Witherby & Ticehurst (1908); Brown & Grice (2005)). The two birds were recorded in Lincolnshire in 1902 were counted as genuine migrants at the time but there is no proof of this.
A brief word should be said about the Great Bustard Group, a charity set up in 1998 to reintroduce the species once again into Britain. Initially birds were obtained from Russia where eggs were collected from nests likely to fail because of agricultural operations. This practice ceased when genetic research by the University of Chester identified Spanish birds as being closest to the old British Great Bustard population and the first Great Bustards reared from Spanish eggs were released on Salisbury Plain from 2013 onwards. Wing-tagged birds do wander and have been seen as far afield as Staffordshire. In 2018 RBBP reports show that 8 females nested. The population was estimated at 70 birds with an even sex ratio though only 15 females were of breeding age. There were no imports of birds or eggs in 2018. How long the population takes to reach Category C status remains to be seen.
| Site | First date | Last date | Count | Notes |
| Louth | 1818 | 1 | Shot on North Thoresby Common | |
| NW Lindsey | 1837 | 1 | Exact date and location unknown, said "to have been seen in the area". | |
| Halton Holegate | 10/04/1836 | 2 | Anonymous record. | |
| Addlethorpe | 1890 | 1 | Male, shot. | |
| Weelsby, Grimsby | 15/12/1902 | 1 | Female, shot; thought to be of introduced Spanish stock | |
| Tetney | 29/12/1902 | 1 | Female, shot; thought to be of introduced Spanish stock |
References
Brown, A. F. and Grice, P. (2005) Birds in England. T & A D Poyser, London.
Cordeaux, J. (1872) Birds of the Humber District. John Van Voorst, London.
Naylor, KA 2025 Historical Rare Birds <https://www.historicalrarebirds.info/>
Shrubb, M. (2011). Some thoughts on the historical status of the Great Bustard in Britain. British Birds 104(4): 180-191.
Witherby, H. F., and Ticehurst, N. F. (1908). On the more important additions to our knowledge of british birds since 1899. British Birds 2: 146-150 (Part XIV).
(Account as per new Birds of Lincolnshire (2021), included September 2022)