Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and in steppe regions. They range in length from 40 to 150 cm (16 to 59 in). They make up the family Otididae (/oʊˈtɪdɪdiː/, formerly known as Otidae).

Bustards are omnivorous and opportunistic, eating leaves, buds, seeds, fruit, small vertebrates, and invertebrates. There are 26 species currently recognised.

The word bustard comes from the Old French bistarda and some other languages: abetarda (Portuguese), abetarda (Galician), avutarda (Spanish) used for the great bustard. The naturalist William Turner listed the English spelling "bustard" and "bistard" in 1544.

All of the common names above are derived from Latin avis tarda or aves tardas given by Pliny the Elder, these names were mentioned by the Pierre Belon in 1555 and Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1600. The word tarda comes from tardus in Latin meaning "slow" and "deliberate", which is apt to describe the typical walking style of the species.

Some Indian bustards are also called floricans. The origin of the name is unclear. Thomas C. Jerdon writes in The Birds of India (1862):

I have not been able to trace the origin of the Anglo-Indian word Florikin, but was once informed that the Little Bustard in Europe was sometimes called Flanderkin. Latham gives the word Flercher as an English name, and this, apparently, has the same origin as Florikin.

— Jerdon's Birds of India, 2nd ed. ii. 625.

The Hobson-Jobson dictionary, however, casts doubt on this theory stating that