View source for Biology:Lesser florican

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Lesser florican
| image = Male Lesser Florican (crop).jpg
| image_caption = Male
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2021 |title=''Sypheotides indicus'' |volume=2021 |page=e.T22692024A199959007 |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22692024/199959007 |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| genus = Sypheotides
| parent_authority = Lesson, 1839
| species = indicus
| authority = (Miller, JF, 1782)
| synonyms = ''Sypheotis aurita''
| range_map = SypheotidesIndicusMap.jpg
| range_map_caption = Spot distribution map (includes historic records)
| range_map2 = Sypheotides_indica_distribution.PNG
| range_map2_caption = Overall distribution (reddish) and breeding areas (green)
}}

The '''lesser florican''' ('''''Sypheotides indicus'''''), also known as the '''likh''' or ''kharmore'', is the smallest in the [[Biology:Bustard|bustard]] family<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/the-fall-of-a-florican/article24770263.ece|title=The fall of a florican|first=Prerna|last=Bindra|date=25 August 2018|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref> and the only member of the genus ''Sypheotides''. It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent where it is found in tall grasslands and is best known for the leaping breeding displays made by the males during the monsoon season. The male has a contrasting black and white breeding plumage and distinctive elongated head feathers that extend behind the neck. These bustards are found mainly in northwestern and central India during the summer but are found more widely distributed across India in winter. The species is highly endangered and has been extirpated in some parts of its range such as {{wipe|Pakistan}}. It is threatened both by hunting and habitat degradation. The only similar species is the [[Biology:Bengal florican|Bengal florican]] (''Houbarobsis bengalensis'') which is larger and lacks the white throat, collar and elongated plumes.

==Taxonomy and systematics==
[[File:Florican, 1781.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Plate from James Forbes' ''Oriental Memoirs'' (1813). He noted that "The florican or Curmoor exceeds all the Indian wild-fowl in delicacy of flavour".<ref>{{cite book|title=Oriental Memoirs. Volume 2|author=Forbes, James| year=1813| publisher= White, Cochrane and Co.|place= London|url=https://archive.org/stream/orientalmemoirss02forb#page/275/mode/1up/| page=275}}</ref>]]
In 1782 the English illustrator John Frederick Miller included a hand-coloured plate of a female lesser florican in his ''Icones animalium et plantarum''. He coined the binomial name ''Otis indica''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Miller | first=John Frederick |  year=1782 | title=Icones animalium et plantarum. Various subjects of Natural History, wherein are delineated Birds, Animals and many curious Plants, &c. |language=la | location=London | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49649838 | at=Part 6, Plate 33}} The work was published in 10 parts with 6 plates in each part. See: {{ cite journal | last1=Sherborn | first1=C.D. |  last2=Iredale | first2=T. |  date=1921 | title=J. F. Miller's ''Icones'' | journal=Ibis | volume=3 | series=11th series  | pages=302-309 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58569377 | ref=none}}</ref> It is now the only species placed in the [[Biology:Genus|genus]] ''Sypheotides'' that was introduced in 1839 by the French naturalist René Lesson. The species is monotypic: no [[Biology:Subspecies|subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2023 | title=Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse | work=IOC World Bird List Version 13.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/turacos/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=3 October 2021}}</ref>

The two species of smaller bustards have been called "floricans". The word has been thought to be of Dutch origin.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:895.hobson|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707124615/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:895.hobson|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-07|author=Yule, Henry|title=Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words, phrases of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive|editor=William Crooke, B.A. London|publisher=J. Murray|year=1903|page=355}}</ref> The genus ''Sypheotides'' earlier included what is now ''Houbaropsis bengalensis'' (or Bengal florican), the two species being small and showing reverse sexual size dimorphism. The tarsus is long in ''Sypheotides'' and the seasonal plumage change in male has led to the retention of the separate genus,<ref name=fbi2/> although the two genera are evolutionarily close.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Christian |last=Pitra|author2=Dietmar Lieckfeldt |author3=Sylke Frahnert |author4=Joerns Fickel |title= Phylogenetic Relationships and Ancestral Areas of the Bustards (Gruiformes: Otididae), Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA and Nuclear Intron Sequences| journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution| volume= 23| issue=1| year=2002|pmid=12182403|pages= 63–74| doi= 10.1006/mpev.2001.1078}}</ref> Male and female plumages were initially thought of as separate species leading to the names ''aurita'' and ''indica'' and the species has been placed in the past in the genera ''Otis'', ''Eupodotis'' and ''Sypheotis''. The species ending which is related to the gender of the Latin genus has been debated and it believed that ''indicus'' is correct.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=David, Normand |author2=Michel Gosselin| year= 2002| title= The grammatical gender of avian genera|journal= Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club| volume=122| issue=4|pages=257–282}}</ref>

The horizontal body carriage, size and habit of holding up their tail feathers when walking on the ground have led their local names to make associations with peacocks, with a popular name being the equivalent of "grass peacock" (such as ''khar-mor'', ''tan-mor'') in some areas. the name ''Likh'' is used in northwestern India and adopted by British sportsmen in India.<ref name=finn>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/indiansportingbi00finn#page/136/mode/1up| title=Indian Sporting Birds|author=Finn, Frank|year= 1915|publisher= Francis Edwards, London|pages=136–138}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Russell, CEM| year=1900|title=Bullet and Shot in Indian forest, plain and hill|pages=383–384|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletshotinindi00russiala#page/383/mode/1up/| publisher=W Thacker and Co, London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|pages=619–625|url=https://archive.org/stream/birdsofindiabein03jerd#page/618/mode/1up|title=The birds of India| volume=3|author=Jerdon, TC| publisher=George Wyman and Co, Calcutta|year=1864}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Female Lesser Florican in flight.jpg|thumb|Female in flight]]
A male in breeding plumage has a black head, neck and lower parts. However, his throat is white. Around three 4&nbsp;inch long, ribbon-like feathers arise from behind the ear-coverts on each side of the head and extend backwards, curving up and ending in spatulate tip. The back and scapulars are mottled in white with V-shaped marks. The wing coverts are white. After the breedings season, the male tends to have some white in the wing. The female is slightly larger than the male. The females and males in non breeding plumage are buff with black streaks with darker markings on the head and neck. The back is mottled and barred in black. The neck and upper breast are buff with the streaks decreasing towards the belly.<ref name=fbi>{{cite book|title= The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds|publisher=Taylor and Francis, London|pages=198–200|author= Blanford WT| year=1898|volume=4|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924000100358#page/n223/mode/1up}}</ref> The outer primaries of the males are thin and notched on the inner-web. The leg are pale yellow and the iris is yellow.<ref name=fbi2>{{cite book|pages=68–71|url=https://archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds6/BakerFBI6#page/n104/mode/1up/|title= The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 6|edition=2nd|year=1929|author=Baker, ECS| publisher=Taylor and Francis, London}}</ref><ref name=pcr>{{cite book|author1=Rasmussen PC  |author2=JC Anderton|year=2005| title=Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions|pages=149–150}}</ref>

Young birds have a distinct U-shaped mark on the neck near the throat.<ref name=ksd>{{cite journal|author=Dharmakumarsinhji KS|year=1950 | title=The Lesser Florican [''Sypheotides indica'' (Miller)]: Its courtship display, behaviour, and habits|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=49|issue=2|pages=201–216}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
The species was formerly more widespread across much of Indian Sub-continent, but not in Sri Lanka. It breeds mainly in the central and western parts of India. Historic records exist from the Makran coast of Balochistan province in Pakistan.<ref name=fbi/> A record from Burma has been questioned.<ref name=birdlife>{{cite book|url=http://birdbase.hokkaido-ies.go.jp/rdb/rdb_en/syphindi.pdf|editor=Collar, NJ |editor2=AV Andreev |editor3=S Chan |editor4=MJ Crosby |editor5=S Subramanya |editor6=JA Tobias|year=2001| title= Threatened Birds of Asia|publisher=BirdLife International|pages=1368–1382}}</ref> The species is said to move in response to rainfall and their presence at locations can be erratic, with sudden large numbers in some seasons.<ref name=whistler>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/popularhandbooko033226mbp#page/n495/mode/1up
 |author=Whistler, Hugh|year=1949|title=Popular handbook of Indian birds|pages=447–449|edition=4th| publisher=Gurney and Jackson, London}}</ref> About 500 males in Gujarat were ringed and nearly 18 were recovered, most of them within about 50 kilometres of their ringing sites.<ref name=hbk/> The preferred habitat is grasslands but it sometimes occurs in fields such as those of cotton and lentils.<ref name=pcr/> Breeding areas are today restricted mainly to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, some areas in southern Nepal and parts of Andhra Pradesh.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /><ref name=ravi>{{cite journal|author1=Sankaran, Ravi |author2=Rahmani, AR |author3=Ganguli-Lachungpa, U |year=1992| title= The distribution and status of the Lesser Florican ''Sypheotides indica'' (J.F. Miller) in the Indian subcontinent| journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=89| issue=2|pages=156–179|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48732616}}</ref>
Managing florican habitats as grassland interspersed with croplands and pastures spared rotationally provided optimal results at low production-level.<ref>Dutta, Sutirtha, and Yadvendradev Jhala. "Planning agriculture based on landuse responses of threatened semiarid grassland species in India." Biological Conservation 175 (2014): 129-139.</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology==
These bustards are found either singly or in pairs in thick grassland or sometimes in crop fields. Indigenous tribal hunters regularly shot the males during the breeding season, as they were easy to spot because of their courtship display. It was said to be good for eating but considered inferior to the meat of the Bengal florican.<ref>{{cite book|pages=316–318|url= https://archive.org/stream/largeandsmallga00baldgoog#page/n347/mode/1up| title= The large and small game of Bengal and the North-Western Provinces of India|author=Baldwin, JH|year=1877|publisher= Henry S King & Co., London}}</ref> They fly faster than other bustards and give a duck-like impression in flight.<ref name=fbi/>

===Food and feeding===
Lesser floricans feed on a wide variety of small vertebrates and invertebrates which include worms, centipedes, [[Biology:Lizard|lizard]]s, [[Biology:Frog|frog]]s and [[Biology:Insect|insect]]s such as locusts, flying [[Biology:Ant|ant]]s and hairy [[Biology:Caterpillar|caterpillar]]s. They are also known to feed on shoots and seeds, herbs and berries.<ref name="Panda">{{cite web|title=Protecting Bustards in India: Special Issue|url=http://awsassets.wwfindia.org/downloads/panda__special_issue.pdf|publisher=World Wildlife Fund-India|access-date=9 June 2013}}</ref>

Usually floricans feed during the early hours of mornings or in the evenings, except in the case of newly migrated birds which feed throughout the day.<ref name="Panda"/>

===Breeding===
[[File:Sypheotides indicus - eggs- Finn.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Eggs showing the colour variation]]
The breeding season varies with the onset of the [[Earth:Monsoon#Southwest monsoon|Southwest Monsoon]] and is September to October in northern India and April to May in parts of southern India.<ref name=hbk>{{cite book|author1=Ali, S  |author2=S D Ripley| title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume= 2|year= 1980 |pages =196–198 }}</ref>

During the breeding season, males leap suddenly from the grass with a peculiar croaking or knocking call, flutter their wings and fall back with slightly open wings. At the apogee of the leap the neck is arched backwards and the legs folded as if in a sitting posture.<ref name=hbk/> These jumps are repeated after intervals of about three or more minutes. The displays are made mainly in the early mornings and late evenings, but during other parts of the day in cloudy weather.

The breeding system is said to be a dispersed lek with each male holding a territory of about 1-2 hectares.<ref name=ravi/><ref name=nlbw>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW34_1#page/n0/mode/1up |author=Sankaran, R |year=1994| title= Red data bird: Lesser florican|journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers |volume=34|issue=1|pages=cover}}</ref> Males are said to favour particular display sites and shooting of these displaying birds has led to sharp declines in the populations in the past.<ref name=ravi/><ref>{{cite journal|author= Sankaran, Ravi |year=1994| title= Some aspects of the territorial system in Lesser Florican ''Sypheotides indica'' (J.F. Miller)| journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=91 | issue=2 |pages=173–186}}</ref> Lek sites tend to have flat ground with low vegetation and good visibility and well used sites usually show signs of trampling.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Ridley, MW |author2=RD Magrath |author3=JCZ Woinarski |title= Display leap of the Lesser Florican ''Sypheotides indica''|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=82|issue=2|pages=271–277|year=1985|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50394943}}</ref>

Females have a defensive display at nest which involves spreading their wings, tail and neck feathers. The females are said to produce a whistling call which attracts males. Males are aggressive towards other males in the neighbourhood. The nest is a shallow scrape on the ground and 3-4 (1.88 x 1.6&nbsp;inches) eggs are laid.<ref name=fbi/> The nest location is usually in dense grass.<ref name=fbi2/> Females take sole part in incubation and rearing the chicks. The incubation period is about 21 days.<ref name=nlbw/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100718111232/http://www.arkive.org/lesser-florican/sypheotides-indicus/ Photographs and videos]
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/lesser-florican-sypheotides-indica Sounds, photographs and videos]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1273465}}

[[Category:Otididae|lesser florican]]

{{Sourceattribution|Lesser florican}}