Encountering Bustards is mostly a matter of luck. From my experience they are most often found when driving and birds are seen by chance on or beside roads. When encountered they will often freeze before slowly walking away or taking flight.
We recently came upon a male bustard in Sturt National Park beside a detour track around the Waka Claypan on the Cameron Corner Road. The claypan at the time contained a good amount of water and about two thousand water birds, mostly Grey Teal (1).
Moving at slow speed on the detour track we were able to pull to a halt adjacent to the bird which remained on open ground. Taking photos of the bird from the vehicle was possible while it was at first in a freeze stance and then lifting its wings slightly and then making a head turn before it started to walk away. All typical behaviour.
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The bird then commenced to strut about and then ruffle its feathers, jump a couple of times, attempt a take-off and spread its large broad wings.
This seemed somewhat strange behaviour until a young female bird walked from behind a nearby bush.
Explaining bird behaviour is a challenge at the best of times and subject to anthropomorphic traps. In this instance I think we can conclude that the male bustards behaviour was for the benefit of the young female bustard and not us. This may have been a form of protective display as it was not a mating/courting display which is very distinctive and involves a pendulous breast sac and leks where a number of males gather to display in competition for females.
Both birds appear to be sub adults. Male bustards are larger than the females however in this case the female seems to be much smaller suggesting it is a juvenile with some growing still required to reach full maturity.
The male then moved away slowly stopping to pick at a possible food item on the ground.
We then noticed a road train carrying cattle approaching around the detour, ending the observation of the pair and further photos. We had to move as there was not enough space for the truck to pass us.
Note (1) Recent heavy rain across outback NW NSW, SW Qld and SA has resulted in many ephemeral water bodies which have attracted large numbers of waterbirds. Before the Bustard encounter we had just completed a Birdata survey on the Waka Claypan, where, using a spotting scope, we recorded 1,800 Grey Teal, 150 Pink-eared Duck, 10 Hardhead, 2 Pacific Black Duck and 2 Red-necked Avocet.
