India's Endangered Wonders

 In my previous post, I had talked about the Bengal Florican, a critically endangered bird of the Bustard order. Today, I shall be talking about a close cousin of this bird. The Great Indian Bustard, also known as the Indian Bustard, is one of the heaviest flying birds in the Indian subcontinent. Characterized by its pale head and neck, brownish body and long legs, this critically endangered bird faces many threats like poaching, habitat loss and collisions with power lines. It feeds mostly on insects, small rodents, berries and grass seeds. Previously, this bird was found all over western, central and peninsular India but now, two of the largest populations of this species are  found in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan and in the coastal grasslands of Kutch in Gujarat. As we all know, the Indian Peafowl is the national bird of India, but did you know that the Great Indian Bustard was also a strong contender for that position? It was mainly because of the renowned ornithologist, S...