Large-scale habitat mapping and local conservation initiatives for Jerdon's courser, India.
		Ken Norris and Ioannis Vogiatzakis PROJECT SUMMARY Jerdon's courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus is a globally threatened species listed as 'Critically Endangered' on the IUCN Red List, one of seven Critically Endangered species in India, where it is endemic. Jerdon’s courser is a small cursorial bird that inhabits open patches in scrub jungle. The species is nocturnal or crepuscular in habit. It was first described by T.C. Jerdon in ca.1848. Until 1900, some birds were recorded in the Pennar and Godawari river valleys and near Antapur. Subsequent efforts to record this elusive species were unsuccessful until 1986 when it was rediscovered in the Pennar river valley, Andhra Pradesh in January 1986. Currently the area is designated as a wildlife sanctuary for the species. Little is known about the ecology of Jerdon’s courser. Our recent work has begun to understand the habitat requirements of this species within scrub jungle, and we have recorded its call for the first time, enabling more rapid census methods to be developed. We have located new areas of scrub jungle in which Jerdon’s courser lives, and are working with the Forestry Department and local communities to protect important areas of habitat. However, we have a very limited idea about its current distribution, and this is very important because scrub areas are being lost to agriculture and other human pressures. This project builds on previous studies by aiming to use satellite imagery data to build large scale maps of suitable habitat for Jerdon’s courser. Teams in the field will then search these areas for the birds, and work with the Forestry Department and local communities to protect important new areas of scrub habitat identified during these searches. METHODS Mapping potentially suitable habitat for Jerdon’s courser would be impossible using ground-based surveys due to the large areas involved. Therefore, we will use satellite imagery data as a more efficient way of habitat mapping. Specifically we aim to: develop predictive mapping methods for identifying potentially suitable scrub habitats for Jerdon’s courser; identify and map the bird’s current habitat; detect recent habitat changes in the region and evaluate the factors that influence these changes. Simply identifying areas of potentially suitable habitat will not tell us whether these areas currently support birds, so the imagery analysis work will then be used by field teams in India to target new areas to search for the birds. This will be done using a combination of soil tracking strips (that record the presence of birds from their footprints) and playback of the birds’ call. Any new areas identified during these searches will then be protected either by the Government designating new wildlife sanctuaries that would be managed by the Forestry Department, or setting up Community Conservation Areas, a novel mechanism via which local communities manage their land for conservation benefits, as well as for their own needs (e.g. food, building materials, etc). Research Partners In the UK: University of Cambridge In India: Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Andhra Pradesh Forestry Department (APFD) Sponsor