Use of tracking strips and automatic cameras for detecting Critically Endangered Jerdon's coursers Rhinoptilus bitorquatus in scrub jungle in Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

Jerdon's courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus is a Jerdon's courser has not yet been detected. The use of tracking strips carries a small risk of misidentification of nocturnal cursorial bird that is now only known from a small area of scrub jungle in Andhra Pradesh, India. Its footprints of other species, especially yellow-wattled lapwing Vanellus malarbaricus, as those of Jerdon's courser, population size, distribution and habitat requirements are poorly known because of its elusive habits. We but has the advantage that large areas can be surveyed without the use of expensive equipment or night-time conducted a trial of a survey method that involved deploying an array of 5 m long tracking strips consisting fieldwork. We recommend the use of automatic camera traps to obtain confirmation of records of probable of smoothed fine soil, and checking them for footprints at regular intervals. We developed diagnostic methods Jerdon's courser footprints. for distinguishing the footprints of Jerdon's courser from those of other species. Tracks of Jerdon's courser were

Modelling habitat selection and distribution of the critically endangered Jerdon's courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus in scrub jungle: an application of a new tracking method

“…Tracking has the potential disadvantage that the tracks of other bird species, most probably yellow‐wattled lapwing Vanellus malarbaricus Boddaert and chestnut‐bellied sandgrouse Pterocles exustus Temminck, might be mistaken for those of Jerdon's courser. However, confusion with lapwing footprints is unlikely in this study because the overlap in footprint characteristics between the two species is small (Jeganathan et al . 2002) and yellow‐wattled lapwings are rarely seen in the types of habitat included in our survey.…”

“…None was seen in our study blocks, even though lapwings are diurnal and easy to see in their preferred, more open habitats. Chestnut‐bellied sandgrouse were often seen in the study areas, but close examination of footprints of this species allows accurate identification (Jeganathan et al . 2002; P. Jeganathan & R.E.…”

“…Simulated bird footprints remained in good condition for at least 8 days provided there was no rain. Identification of Jerdon's courser footprints followed the method of Jeganathan et al. (2002).…”

<B>Mammals of Papikonda Hills, northern Eastern Ghats, India</B>

“…by several large rivers such as the Godavari (1,465km), Krishna (1,400km) and Cauvery (800km) flowing east into the Bay of Bengal (Mani 2012). The Eastern Ghats lansdcape is a treasure trove of biodiversity where several species endemic to the landscape such as the Golden Gecko Calodactyloides aureus (Daniel et al 1986;Javed et al 2007), the Jeypore Ground Gecko Geckoella jeyporensis (Agarwal et al 2012), the Slender Loris (Singh et al 2000) and the Critically Endangered Jerdon's Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus (Jeganathan et al 2002) have been reported. The northern section of the Eastern Ghats in particular contains extensive stretches of moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests harboring high biodiversity and several rare species (Javed et al 2007;Seetharamaraju et al 2009;Sreekar & Srinivasulu 2010); however, there is no published baseline information on the mammal diversity of the northern Eastern Ghats, and there are currently no updated lists of mammals for the landscape.…”

Use of remote sensing to measure change in the extent of habitat for the critically endangered Jerdon's Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus in India

“…Jerdon's Courser can be detected using playback surveys to elicit calls (Jeganathan & Wotton 2004) and tracking strips to record footprints (Jeganathan et al . 2002).…”