This is a medium-large bustard found in the sparsely vegetated interface between the southern margins of the Sahara desert and the northern part of the Sahel.

It is found in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan.

[3] It is smaller than the sympatric Arabian bustard, as well as more rufous with a different body shape.

Observation of breeding has occurred from July to October have been reported across the species' range.

Young birds and eggs are threatened by a wider range of predators, including mammalian carnivores and reptiles.