Bengal Florican

News: Bengal florican populations are declining as grasslands vanish due to land conversion, agriculture expansion, burning, and habitat fragmentation pressures.

About Bengal Florican

• It is a medium-sized bustard species found in grasslands, and it is a grassland indicator species.
• Different names: It is called ulu-mo’ra in Assamese and daotriling in Bodo, and it is also known as the “dancer of the grasslands.”
• Habitat: It lives in seasonally inundated alluvial grasslands of the Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains dominated by grasses.
• Distribution: It is found in Uttar Pradesh (Dudhwa National Park), Assam (Manas, Kaziranga, Orang, and Dibru-Saikhowa National Parks), and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in the terai of Nepal and in Bangladesh.
• Characteristics
  • Appearance: The male shows black plumage, crest, elongated display feathers, and white wing patches visible in flight.
  • Behaviour: It performs vertical leaps, wing movements, and vocalisations in group displays called “lekking.”
  • Sexual traits: It shows reverse sexual dimorphism and colour dichromatism.
  • Diet: It is omnivorous and eats insects, fruits, seeds, flowers, and small reptiles.
• Threats
  • Habitat loss occurs due to land conversion, agriculture expansion, burning, overgrazing, encroachment, river changes, fragmentation, invasive species, and fire mismanagement.
• Conservation Status
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered
  • Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
  • Appendix I of CMS