MacQueen's bustard is larger than the houbara and much paler. The feathers on the top of the head include some long and curved feathers which are white or black with white bases. In the houbara, these crest feathers are all white and the difference is evident during the display of the male. The lack of intermediate forms in the region where the ranges of MacQueen's bustard and houbara bustard meet, presumed to be in the Nile valley, differences in morphology and display behaviour led to their being elevated to full species. The houbara bustard now refers only to the North African population, included as the nominate subspecies C. undulata undulata and a small population on the Canary Islands (C. u. fuertaventurae).
