India's Endangered Wonders

 I don't know how many of the readers here know this, but out of all the species of the Bustard order, three are considered highly threatened, in India. In this post, I will be talking about one of those three birds. The Bengal Florican, also known as the Bengal Bustard, is considered one of the most vulnerable birds in India, with a conservation status of "Critically Endangered". It got its name from its discovery in the food plains of the Ganga and Brahmaputra, at the foothills of the Himalayas. There are two distinct populations of this bird, one in the Terai regions of India and Nepal and another in Cambodia. Previously, this bird was also found in Bangladesh and Vietnam but is now considered extinct from there. This bird feeds mostly on seeds, insects, berries, grasses and more. However, the number of individuals in both the populations are decreasing, mostly due to the shrinking of the grasslands, the habitat of these birds. While the male bird is known for its athl...

 Amongst all the birds in this world, there are some which are highly attractive and brightly coloured and others which are dull looking. Here I want to add that not all endangered birds are that eye-catching and in this post, I will be talking about one such bird, hiding itself in the thick mangroves of the Sunderbans. Sunderban delta, situated in the middle of Bangladesh and West Bengal is home to a very dull looking yet critically endangered  bird– the Masked Finfoot. This bird is vulnerable to extinction because of the rise in the sea level, which is leading to the drowning of the islands and also the loss of its habitat. These semi-aquatic birds bear the resemblance of cormorants, but are actually members of the Crane order. They feed mostly on insects, shrimps and small fish. The sad part though is that the local fishermen often hunt these birds or collect their chicks and eggs, which is further decreasing their population. The expansion of farming lands and construction...