Jerdon's Courser

The Jerdon's Courser with the binomial name Rhinoptilus bitorquatus is a nocturnal bird belonging to the family Glareolidae native to India. The family Glareolidae includes two groups namely coursers and pratincoles. The bird was discovered by Thomas C. Jerdon, a surgeon-naturalist in the year of 1848.

After many years it was rediscovered in the year of 1986 by an ornithologist Bharat Bhushan in Reddipalli village, Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh. The bird family contains 17 species, 8 species out of which are found in the Indian subcontinent. This courser bird is a resident of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. The quick classification of Jerdon's Courser is as below,

Scientific Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Order	Charadriiformes
Family	Glareolidae
Genus	Rhinoptilus
Species	R. bitorquatus

Physical Characteristics:

Jerdon courser is a grey brown bird with large eyes, arched bill and the nostrils are present at the base of the bill. They have two brown breast bands bordered with black color. It has a blackish crown, a narrow white crown stripe traversing from the top of the head, yellow base to the black bill, dark cheek patch, an orange-chestnut throat patch and broad buff supercilium.


During the flight it renders a black tail, black flight feathers and a prominent white wing bar.

It is crepuscular and vocal at dawn and dusk with a series of calls like Twick-too...Twick-too and yak-wak.. Yak-wak calls. The series of notes are repeated at the rate of about 1 per second and produced 2 to 16 times a day and several birds in the locality may join in the call.

Iris of the bird is clear yellow. It is a nocturnal species and spends the day hours hiding under the shade.It has a sandy-brown plumage on the back and breast that cover up the bird from predators when roosting during the day.They walk with an upright stance with its long stilt-like legs.

The underparts of the bird are white with a banded lower breast, and a distinctive rufous patch on the neck. The under portion of the neck and the crown are dark brown, and a V-shape is formed when the cream eye-stripes join. The tail looks black with the base colored white, and the legs are yellowish white in color.The head-body length is 27 cm long. The name 'Jerdon' is from the Telugu word 'Adavi wuta-titti' meaning "Jungle empty-purse". Recent researches name the bird by a local name 'Kalivi kodi'.

Behavior:

These species are nocturnal and are active at night searching for prey. During the day time they rest amongst dense thorny bushes and depend on their plumage to avoid detection by its predator. It is a fast runner and will flee on foot when caught in the eyes of the predator.

Food Habits:

They are supposed to be insectivorous and feed mostly on termites and other insects.

Distribution and Habitat:

It is local endemic to the Eastern Ghats mountain range of Andhra Pradesh, India and extreme southern parts of Maharashtra. Recent survey shows that the species is found only at southern Andhra Pradesh. It is also known to survive in other areas in range like Lankamalai, Palkonda and Velikonda of Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.Current range is between 140 0' and 15015'N; 770 0' and 79045'E.

Jerdon's courser inhabits scrub forest and bushes, Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forest eco region, and silty or stony land with sparse ground vegetation. It also prefers thin woodland and bushes, rocky low foothills of the Eastern Ghats and patches of bare open ground.

It is often found in areas between human degraded forest, undisturbed forest, or agriculture, and appears to show an importance for areas containing small woody bushes. Around 32 pairs of Jerdon's courser are found in Sri Lankamalleswara Sanctuary as per June 2008 survey released.

Mating and Nesting:

Courser's build their nests on the ground, and Jerdon's courser lays its eggs in an open stone ground and shallow scrape in the vegetation. These birds lay two to three eggs at each breeding season. Not much information on breeding has been known since it is recorded as a rare bird.

Threats and conservation:

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has categorized Jerdon's courser as 'Critically Endangered' due to the lower population of the species. The population decline is because of the loss of habitat. The population estimates for the courser bird contains 50 to 249 birds in its range. Recent studies is making use of techniques such as camera trapping and placed strips of fine sand to record the footprints as a result of which the correct and exact population density of the bird can be very well made. The bird is found to be existing in only in a small range. In 1988, the Indian Postal Service has released a stamp to honor the rediscovery of the bird.

The prominent threat to the bird includes loss of habitat which may include reasons like increase in human population, increase in number of livestock, extensive quarrying and firewood extraction. Also the preferred scrub habitat has been declined due to increase in agricultural land.

Steps are taken by Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary to conserve these species from declining. The Bombay Natural History Society, in tie up with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Cambridge University, has been working to analyze the distribution and habitat requirements of the species since 2001.

Additional proposed measures include a radio-telemetry study to find out ecological requirements for the species, and the commencement of conservation awareness programmes amongst local communities to minimize habitat loss and alteration.

Steps have been taken to expand conservation awareness programmes and promote optional livelihoods in and around areas supporting populations to minimize disturbance, habitat alteration, and trapping. Also forest department staff, local communities and volunteers are trained to carry out surveys for the species.

Interesting facts about Jerdon's courser:

1. In 1988, the Indian Postal Service has released a stamp to honor the rediscovery of the bird
2. They also have other binomial name as Macrotarsius bitorquatus and Cursorius bitorquatus