About the Great Indian Bustard (GIB)
There are four bustard species present in India: Great Indian Bustard (GIB), Lesser Florican, Bengal Florican and Macqueen’s Bustard. The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), the State bird of Rajasthan, is considered India’s most critically endangered bird. The large-winged birds are on the brink of extinction, with one of the causes being frequent collisions with high-powered power cables running adjacent to its core habitats in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
- The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is a large terrestrial bird endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
- The bird is primarily found in dry grasslands and scrublands, which are rapidly declining due to agricultural expansion and development.
- Its core population (~100 individuals) survives in the Thar Desert, mainly in Jaisalmer and Barmer districts of Rajasthan.
- The total population is critically low, estimated to be around 100–150 individuals across India.
- Importance of GIBs: Considered as indicators of the health of grasslands or pulse of grassland ecosystem.
Physical Characteristics of Great Indian Bustard (GIB)
The great Indian bustard can easily be distinguished by its black crown on the forehead contrasting with the pale neck and head. The body is brownish and the wings are marked with black, brown and grey. Males and females generally grow to the same height and weight but males have larger black crowns and a black band across the breast.
- The Great Indian Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world.
- It has a horizontal body posture, long bare legs, and resembles an ostrich in appearance.
- Distinctive features include:
- A black crown on the forehead,
- A pale head and neck,
- A brownish body with grey, black, and brown patterns on the wings.
- Both sexes are similar in size, with the heaviest individuals reaching up to 15 kg (33 pounds).
- The bird has a lifespan of 12–15 years.
Reproductive and Feeding Behaviour of Great Indian Bustard (GIB)
- GIBs breed mostly during the monsoon season when females lay a single egg on open ground.
- Males have a gular pouch, which helps produce a resonant booming mating call to attract females and can be heard up to a distance of 500 metres.
- Males play no role in the incubation and care of the young, which remain with the mother till the next breeding season.
- GIBs are a slow-reproducing species. They lay a few eggs and have almost a year-long parental care of chicks. The GIB achieves maturity in around 3-4 years.
- They are opportunistic feeders, consuming a varied diet depending on seasonal availability:
- Grass seeds,
- Insects such as grasshoppers and beetles,
- Occasionally small rodents and reptiles.
Habitat And Distribution
- Historically, the great Indian bustard was distributed throughout Western India, spanning 11 states, as well as parts of Pakistan.
- Its stronghold was once the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan plateau of the peninsula.
- Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Small population occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
- Bustards generally favour flat open landscapes with minimal visual obstruction and disturbance, therefore adapt well in grasslands.
- In the non-breeding season they frequent wide agro-grass scrub landscapes.
- While in the breeding season (summers and monsoons) they congregate in traditional undisturbed grassland patches characterized by a mosaic of scantily grazed tall grass (below 50 cm).
- They avoid grasses taller than themselves and dense scrub like thickets.
Conservation Status of Great Indian Bustard (GIB)
- IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I species (highest level of protection under Indian law)
- CITES: Appendix I, indicating it is threatened with extinction and international trade is strictly regulated.
- Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix I
Conservation Issues
- The biggest threat to this species is hunting, which is still prevalent in Pakistan.
- This is followed by occasional poaching outside Protected Areas, collisions with high tension electric wires, fast moving vehicles and free-ranging dogs in villages.
- Other threats include habitat loss and alteration as a result of widespread agricultural expansion and mechanized farming, infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electric poles, as well as mining and industrialization.
Government Initiative
- Firefly Bird Diverters: Firefly bird diverters are flaps installed on power lines. They work as reflectors for bird species like the GIB. Birds can spot them from a distance of about 50 meters and change their path of flight to avoid collision with power lines.
- Artificial Hatching: The conservation breeding programme started in 2019 by collecting eggs from the wild and artificially hatching them.
- Conservation Breeding Facility: MoEF&CC, the Rajasthan government and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have also established a conservation breeding facility in Desert National Park at Jaisalmer in June 2019.
- Project Great Indian Bustard: It has been launched by the Rajasthan government to construct breeding enclosures for the species and develop infrastructure to reduce human pressure on its habitats.
National Bustard Recovery Plans
- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) approved funds for next phase (from 2024 to 2029) of Bustard Recovery Program.
- Plans to recover the species first started in 2013 under the National Bustard Recovery Plan, which later gave way to the Bustard Recovery Project in 2016.
- The Bustard Recovery Project commenced for an initial period of five years (2016-21) and now extended till 2033.
- As of now, around 140 GIBs and fewer than 1,000 Lesser Floricans are surviving in the wild.
- Project implemented by: Wildlife Institute of India
- Funding agency: National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)
- Partner agencies: Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Rajasthan Forest Department Gujarat & Maharashtra Forest Departments
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