Bengal Florican
Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis)
- Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List
- Protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, India.
- Included on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), making international trade in this species illegal.
- HABITAT Found in lowland dry, or seasonally inundated, natural and semi-natural grasslands.
- RANGE Resident birds of India, Nepal, and Cambodia. Possible extinct in Bangladesh. Seasonal visitor to Vietnam
- Body Length – 66-68 cm
- Mostly black bustard with largely white wings
- In flight, wings entirely white except for black tips.
- Females are buff-brown in colour, with dark brown crown and streaked neck. They have darker wings, with fine dark barring.
- They are normally silent, but produce a chik-chik-chik call upon being disturbed.
- As its scientific names suggest, it was originally described in Bengal, but no individuals have been reported from the state since 1990.
- Like most bustards, they feed on a wide range of small vertebrates and invertebrates, including worms, centipedes, lizards and insects. They also feed on fruits, seeds and berries.
- The bird is best known for its elaborate courtship display, where the male’s black and white plumage is shown off to good effect in short arching display flights, as well as choreographed strutting – with fluffed up neck feathers and a head pumping action, to attract females.
- Bengal Florican is the only member of its genus Houbaropsis, and is the rarest member of the Bustard Order, Ortidiformes.
- POPULATION 250-999 Population is declining
- THREATS
- Extensive loss and modification of grasslands through drainage, conversion to agriculture and plantations
- Overgrazing, inappropriate cutting, burning and ploughing regimes
- Heavy flooding, invasion of alien species
- Dam construction and inappropriate and illegal development
Image via Wikimedia
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