Let's Not Lose Them

Bonding for Life
Counting Tigers
Glorious Gloriosa
Orchids
Crawling stars!
Silversword
Panda bears
The Coelacanth
Sandalwood
The Endangered Wetlands
Search for Jerdon's Courser
Most Wanted
Meet The Chiru
The Case of the Disappearing Sparrows

Search for Jerdon's Courser

The Courser is a fairly long-legged bird that prefers to run rather than fly.
There are nine species of Courser worldwide. One of them, Jerdon's Courser, first recorded by Dr. Jerdon in the middle of the last century, was thought to have become extinct by 1900. Naturalists searched for it in its native habitat in eastern India but without success. In 1975/76 the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) launched another search for it. The BNHS circulated posters showing a coloured picture of the bird in the Pennar river valley in southern Andhra Pradesh. There was a note in Telugu accompanying the posters.
One day a tribal said he had seen the bird shown in the poster and that it was known as Kalivi-Kodi in Telugu. He said the birds moved in groups of seven to eight and fed at night.

This bit of information interested the scientists because one other species of courser was known to be nocturnal.
In January 1976 a poacher caught a Kalivi-Kodi but by the time a representative of the BNHS reached him the bird had died. But the scientists were closing in on the bird and soon afterwards they saw some of them in their natural surroundings. They watched entranced. Their long search was over!
The kalivi-kodi was indeed Jerdon's Courser and it was alive and well!

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Last updated on :9/9/2003

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User's Comments

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btseshasayee: Your article on Jerdon's Courser is too brief. Its history and range of habitat needs elaboration. Thankyou.

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Kanna Kumar .S: I want to know a little more about this magnificient bird and I am sure you will help me out.

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Pragjnanand: At the outet, let me applaud the efforts of all those associated with finding it. Especially my appreciation goes to the tribal who spotted it. His name and photograph be uploaded. We seldom bring such people to the forefront. Let us ALSO give him the credit. I would like to know more about the bird. I appreciate if you can post me a good picture of the bird. I'd love to keep it on my desktop. Pragjnanand M.Phil (NRM)

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B. Anil kumar: The area in which the bird is known to exist is under threat. Further studies in a faster track may save the bird.

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suresh babu: The bird is in danger of extinction and efforts must be made by the government to save the habitat of the bird.

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priyanka garg: I would like to get more information on this bird as I need it for a school project. Please let me know more about it soon.

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sumanas koulagi: Please give P.Jaganathan address.

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nagamanohara babu: I would like to get more information for the Jorden's Courser for my school project.

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Mashantha: Is there any person or organisation working towards protecting this bird in Hyderbad? I'd like to get in touch with them as I need their feedback for a school project.

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prasad: I would like to get more info about this for our environment project.

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Ramakrishna.T: I would like to get more information for jerdon's courser for my forestry project.

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Bharat Bhushan: On 13-14 January 2011, it will be exactly 25 years since the rediscovery of the Jerdon's Courser at the Lankamalai Reserve Forests, Eastern Ghats, Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh. It has been a tremendous journey since then. The birding family has grown, bird groups have multiplied, and with digital photography, the reach and knowledge and intimate photographs of birds has exploded tremendously. Its an exciting journey that seems to start again and again. Thank you.

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