It is a Houbara Bustard subspecies which is endemic to the eastern Canary archipelago, in Macaronesia in the North Atlantic Ocean, where it is a scarce and threatened non-migratory resident.
Pico da Vara is the highest mountain on the Portuguese island of São Miguel, in the Azores archipelago of Macaronesia in the Atlantic Ocean.
Morphologically, they are closely linked with the genera Jovibarba, Aeonium, Greenovia, Aichryson, and Monanthes, occurring mainly in Macaronesia (Azores, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira).
While the fleet was capable of worldwide operations, it was focused on operations in Northern Europe, including the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, West Africa, Macaronesia, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea.