Two Lesser Floricans spotted near Haryana’s Sultanpur
NEWDELHI: At least two Lesser Floricans, an endangered and elusive species of bird from the bustard family, have been spotted near Sultanpur in Haryana, much to the delight of birders from Delhi and the National Capital Region.
This is not the first time a Lesser Florican has been seen in the region — one was spotted once, a few years ago, near a private university in Dadri, Greater Noida — but the sighting is still a rare one because there are so few left in the wild, less than 300 if the latest study on the species is to be believed. Lesser Floricans are elusive throughout the year and are spotted almost exclusively during the breeding season, which coincides with the monsoon months.
“The birds were spotted at least three times this month. While on one occasion a male was spotted, in the other two sightings females were spotted. We still don’t know whether it is the same female which was spotted twice or two separate female birds,” said Pankaj Gupta, a birder from the Delhi Bird Foundation. The birds were spotted in an agricultural land near the Sultanpur National Park in Haryana. The park itself is closed (as it usually is) till the end of the monsoon.
As this is the breeding season, birders from the city are now waiting for the male bird to start its courtship dance in which the male jumps into the air and then comes down, effecting a straight jump, all the while emitting a characteristic call.
CONTINUED ON P 10 ››‘LESSER FLORICAN ON VERGE OF EXTINCTION’, P8