Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps

(Vigors, 1831)

(Photo Credit: Dr. Asad R. Rahmani)

Classification

Kingdom :	Animalia
Phylum :	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order :	Gruiformes
Family :	Otididae
Genus :	Ardeotis
Species :	A. nigriceps
Zoological name :	Ardeotis nigriceps (Choriotis nigriceps, Otis nigriceps)

Vernacular names:

Great Indian Bustard is locally known by various names in various States. The names popularly used are Yerbhoot, Maldhok, Ghorad, Godawan, Hukna, Tuqdar etc.

Identification characteristics:

Height: 92-122 cm.

Great Indian Bustard is a huge ground bird reminiscent of a small ostrich. It has horizontal carriage of body and stout bare legs characteristics.

Male: Above, deep sandy buff finely vermiculated with black. Bird has black crown of head and crested, and below White, with a black band or gorget across lower breast.

In flight the large size, white neck stretched in front with contrasting black cap on head, white under parts with dark breast-band, and large whitish patches near tips of the broad wings make its identity unmistakable.

Female: Similar but much smaller, with the white of head and neck less pure, more vermiculated with black. Pectoral band of the bird is absent or merely indicated on the sides; occasionally fairly complete.

Young: Male differs from female in having buff spots on the crown, hind neck, and upper back.

Distribution & population:

Range and population Ardeotis nigriceps occurs in the Indian Subcontinent with former strongholds in the Thar desert in the northwest and Deccan tableland of the Peninsula. It has been extirpated from 90% of its former range: now principally confined to Rajasthan (c.175 birds), with smaller populations (<50 birds) in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, and near about 20 in each of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, India. Recent declines have been noted in several areas, including Maharashtra^2,6, where the latest population estimates suggest a population as low as 30 individuals² and numbers have been falling in the Bustard Sanctuary since at least the late 1980s, with the 2010 census recording only 9 individuals, and breeding has not been recorded there since 2007 at least⁶. It is thought to have completely disappeared from the states of Haryana, Punjab, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, India, but some apparently survive, and are hunted, in Sind, Pakistan^4,5. Its total population has declined from an estimated 1,260 individuals in 1969 to c.300 individuals in 2008⁴, equivalent to a reduction of c.82% over 47 years (three generations), assuming an exponential trend. The results of a recent genetic study, in which the effective population size was estimated from the diversity of mitochondrial DNA, provide support for an estimate of fewer than 1,000 birds during the period 2006-2010, when samples were collected⁷. This study found very low genetic diversity for such a widespread species, probably owing to a bottleneck event caused by its widespread extermination prior to 1919⁷. Population viability analysis predicts a high probability of local extinction in populations numbering fewer than 40 individuals, with the more secure population of over 100 individuals showing sensitivity to the loss of one additional adult each year to human causes, indicating that present levels of off-take are unsustainable⁴. Current levels of hunting may result in the extinction of the western Indian population in the next 15-20 years⁴.

Habitat:

It inhabits arid and semi-arid grasslands with scattered low scrub, bushes and cultivation in flat or gently undulating terrain. Breeding can occur at any time of year if conditions permit, usually coincides with the beginning of the rains. It probably makes local (and possibly long distance) nomadic movements in response to various factors.

Habit:

Normally met with in scattered pairs, or parties of 5 or 6. It is excessively shy and wary. Runs at great speed and prefer to squat and freeze behind a bush rather than fly away. Takes a few steps before rising in air; with favorable wind almost straight off the ground. Its flight rather vulture like, with deliberate rhythmical strokes of huge wings, never very high above ground.

Diet:

Great Indian Bustard is omnivorous. It feeds on Grains, tender shoots of various crop plants of which mustard is favorite. It also feeds on Drupes and berries, beetles, grasshoppers, seeds and groundnuts. Sometimes it feeds on centipedes, Lizards and snakes.

Breeding:

Principally between March and September; locally also in other months. Nest is a shallow depression in the ground at the base of a bush in grass and scrub, sometimes sparsely lined with grass. Eggs are normally single, very rarely two, drab or pale olive-brown in ground colour, faintly blotched with deep brown. Nuptial display of cock, given from some slight eminence or mound, consists of strutting and pasturing and inflating the special gular sac to grotesque proportions so that it stretches all down the throat protruding below like a wobbling bag between the legs. The tail is erect well over the back and moved quickly up and down. Sometimes display performed when there is no hen in the vicinity; when there is one she usually seems quite uninterested. The sequences leading to copulation have not been observed. Incubation is done by hen alone.

Threat to bird:

Widespread hunting for sport and food precipitated its decline, accelerated by vehicular access to remote areas. Some poaching continues, including one documented case where mine-workers that lost their livelihoods when mines near Gwalior were closed for the creation of the Ghatigaon Bustard Sanctuary are hunting bustards to undermine the criteria on which the area was first designated as a sanctuary. The current key threats are habitat loss, modification and fragmentation as a result of widespread agricultural development and land-use change, particularly conversion of large areas to intensive crop cultivation, irrigation schemes (to convert areas to rice paddy), increased pesticide usage and livestock-grazing, and high levels of disturbance. Inappropriate protected area management and increasing instances of nest-trampling are further problems.

Justification: This bustard qualifies as Endangered because of its very small, declining population, a result of hunting and continuing agricultural development.

Conservation measures:

In India, it is legally protected and there are severe penalties for killing an individual. It has been the focus of several publicity initiatives aimed at reducing poaching. Since 1981, extensive fieldwork has investigated its status, distribution and ecology, and a detailed conservation strategy has been published. Numerous protected areas have been specifically established for the species, some successfully, and populations occur in several others. Rehabilitation of grasslands has also benefited it in some areas.

Conservation measures proposed:

Investigate seasonal patterns of migration, habitat choice, and breeding, perhaps using satellite tracking. Continue to survey all states within its range to clarify its current distribution and monitor population trends. Establish new protected areas at key sites. Revise the design and management of bustard sanctuaries, maintaining core areas and promoting traditional agricultural practices in buffer zones. Campaign for realignment of the Indira Gandhi Nahar Canal Project in Rajasthan. Promote 'Project Bustards', a conservation strategy for Indian bustards. Develop and establish Community Reserves which promote sustainable utilisation of grasslands for the benefit of bustards (and other wildlife), and rural communities.

Photo gallery:

1. From OBI

http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=1&action=searchresult&Bird_ID=830

&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1

2. From Arkive

http://www.arkive.org/great-indian-bustard/ardeotis-nigriceps/image-G8236.html

Information compiled from:

Internet sites:

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=2767&m=0

Books:

Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1987) Birds of India and Pakistan – Together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, Handbook Vol. 2: 188-191 (Sp. No. 354)