Found up to 3,000 m (del Hoyo et al. 1996). It inhabits grasslands, grassy Acacia-studded dunes, fairly dense shrubland, light woodland, farmland, crops, dried marsh and arid scrub plains; also grass-covered ironstone pans and burnt savanna woodland in Sierra Leone and high rainfall sour grassveld, planted pastures and cereal croplands in fynbos in South Africa (del Hoyo et al. 1996). It feeds on insects, small vertebrates and plant material (Collar 1996, T. Dodman in litt. 1999). The breeding season is variable and consequently unclear, perhaps indicating opportunism in reaction to rainfall (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The clutch-size is one or two (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
The habitat is inferred to be undergoing a continuing decline in area and quality with widespread conversion of grassland and light woodland to agriculture and commercial afforestation (Turner and Goriup 1989, Collar 1996, Ehlers Smith 2025), and overgrazing degrading habitat in parts of the range (e.g. Eswatini [Ehlers Smith 2025]).

This species is widely distributed from the Sahel to South Africa in drier habitats but occurs as three distinct subspecies and is further fragmented by declines, but occurrence patterns are somewhat unclear due to movements in response to rainfall. The nominate subspecies occurs in west Africa east to north Uganda, Sudan and South Sudan and west Ethiopia (although rare [Ash and Atkins 2009]), and likely northernmost Kenya (Loki Plains [eBird 2025]). It migrates north following rains from May and June and returns September and October, being present in Niger and Côte d'Ivoire in the dry season but is present year-round in Central African Republic (Collar and Garcia 2020). There are only rare, rainy season records in southwestern Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia. It is also present in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad (Collar and Garcia 2020).
Subspecies N. d. jacksoni occurs from Kenya and west Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, southeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Malawi, Zambia (a stronghold [Collar and Garcia 2020]), Zimbabwe, and Botswana (where it is very scarce [Hancock 2008, S.J. Tyler in litt. 2013, Tyler 2013]), and occurs to southern Congo, western DR Congo, and across the central plateau in Angola (Dean 2000, Borrow and Demey 2001) and Namibia (Hockey et al. 2005). 
The third subspecies, N. d. stanleyi, occurs from the extreme southern tip of Mozambique, South Africa and Eswatini. It is considered a vagrant in Lesotho (Ehlers Smith 2025).
It has suffered population declines through much of its range (Urban et al. 1986, Collar and Garcia 2020). The nominate subspecies has declined rapidly in Nigeria (Collar and Garcia 2020) and there are very few recent records across West Africa away from protected areas, especially Mole National Park in Ghana and Pendjari National Parks in Benin (J. Brouwer in litt. 2012, eBird 2025, GBIF.org 2025). It is still considered common in Central African Republic (Collar and Garcia 2020) and large numbers still occur after rains in Chad (Wacher et al. 2012) and this region likely holds the bulk of this subspecies' population. But there have been also been declines in Sudan, South Sudan (del Hoyo et al. 1996) and Uganda (Carswell et al. 2005).
The Rift Valley in Kenya was formerly regarded as its stronghold, but the species declined there during the last century and was regarded as the most threatened bustard in Kenya by the end of the 1980s (Lewis and Pomeroy 1989), with fewer than 300 considered to remain by 1999 (L. Bennun in litt. 1999). Further south, Zambia is considered a stronghold for the species (Dowsett et al. 2008), but in South Africa, studies indicate that the species has decreased in abundance throughout much of its range in the past few decades (Hofmeyr 2012) and there is a significant range contraction modelled from Southern African Bird Atlas Project data (Ehlers Smith 2025).

Conservation and Research Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. The population in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini is considered Vulnerable (Ehlers Smith 2025), and it has been considered Critically Endangered in Uganda (WCS 2016).

Conservation and Research Actions Proposed
Conduct surveys to establish an estimate for the entire population. Carry out regular surveys to measure population trends. Monitor the rate of habitat loss, especially in Kenya and South Africa. Test the use of alternatives to reduce hunting, such as ecotourism. Protect habitat and enforce hunting bans in nature reserves. Research and work to reduce power-line collisions in South Africa for this and other bustard species, and investigate collision mortality from other sources, especially wind turbines. Train landowners in bustard-friendly management techniques (Hofmeyr 2012).