Jerdon’s Courser in Kadapa-Two Decades of Conservation in Andhra Pradesh

 The Jerdon’s Courser — a shy, nocturnal, ground-dwelling bird endemic to India — has become a symbol of persistence in wildlife conservation. Once presumed extinct, it was rediscovered in 1986 in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh.
Over the past two decades, conservationists, forest officials and local communities have engaged in intensive efforts to protect its fragile habitat, track its presence and raise awareness. This blog post chronicles the journey of this “ghost bird” in the scrub-forests of Kadapa: its habitat, threats, conservation measures, challenges and hope for the future. 

About the Bird & Habitat

The Jerdon’s Courser (scientific name: Rhinoptilus bitorquatus) is a small, elusive bird of the Eastern Ghats region, known for its long legs, large eyes and adaptation for walking along the ground rather than flying frequently.  Its known habitat is the scrub jungle with open patches — thorny bushes like Carissa, terrain with termite mounds, red-soil plateaus and minimal undergrowth. The key protected area is the Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary (Kadapa district) which spans about 464 km².
Because of its extreme rarity, nocturnal habits and preference for a very specialised habitat, the bird has earned the nickname “ghost bird of India.”

Timeline of Rediscovery & Conservation

• 1848: First scientific description by British naturalist Thomas Caverhill Jerdon.

• 1900: Last known record before long absence.

• 1986: Rediscovery at Reddipalli village in Kadapa district by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and local trapper.

• 1998: Sanctuary declared (Sri Lankamalleswara WLS) to protect habitat.

• 2000s onward: Numerous field surveys, deployment of camera traps, sound-recording devices, habitat mapping and funding support (e.g., Rs. 50 lakh sanctioned in 2022) for the bird’s research.

• 2025: A breakthrough: in August 2025, after many years of no confirmed sightings, calls and possible presence of the bird were recorded in scrub habitat outside prior core zones. 

Why the Efforts Matter

• Endemic & Critically Endangered: The bird is found only in a restricted range in Andhra Pradesh and possibly adjacent areas, and its global status is “Critically Endangered”.

• Habitat as a Conservation Indicator: The scrub and open-ground habitats it uses are under pressure from agriculture, canal construction and forest conversion — protecting the bird also means protecting a rare habitat type.

• Conservation Innovation: Use of audio-recorders, camera-traps, community trained trackers, sand-footprint strips and targeted habitat protection have made this a model for elusive species conservation.

• Symbolic Value: The bird’s saga underscores how species thought extinct can still survive in tiny pockets, and how long-term commitment is needed to protect them.

Key Threats & Challenges

• Habitat Loss & Modification: Large-scale infrastructure like the Telugu-Ganga canal, agricultural expansion, lemon farms, grazing and plantation of non-native species have fragmented or degraded the scrubs.

• Extremely Low Numbers & Elusive Behaviour: Because the bird is nocturnal, rare and occupies difficult terrain, sightings are very infrequent — making population estimation and monitoring hard.

• Limited Funding & Resources: Monitoring such a hidden species across potential habitat patches requires camera-traps, audio gear, field staff and community engagement — which remains challenging. 

What Has Been Done & What’s Next

Conservation Actions

• Declaration of Sri Lankamalleswara WLS and specific habitat compartments protected for the species.

• Use of advanced monitoring methods: more than 100 camera-traps set up across Kadapa’s scrub forests in surveys.

• Funding by Government of India: e.g., Rs. 50 lakh sanctioned in 2022 for Jerdon’s Courser research.

• Habitat mapping, community awareness, collaboration between government, NGOs (e.g., BNHS) and local people.

• Protective measures to halt or reroute development projects that threatened habitat.

Future Priorities

• Expanding survey across newly identified suitable areas beyond core sanctuary bounds to detect hidden populations.

• Long-term monitoring, maybe radio-tagging or acoustic monitoring, to understand behaviour, breeding, movement.

• Strengthening protection of the entire scrub-grassland mosaic around Kadapa and ensuring human-use is compatible.

• Engaging local communities as guardians and partners, since traditional knowledge, local habitat use and livelihoods are tied to the region.

• Building awareness and integrating this species’ conservation into wider landscape planning for the Eastern Ghats.

In a Nutshell

Twenty years is a long journey in conservation, and for the Jerdon’s Courser, it represents decades of hope, quiet fieldwork and vigilance. The bird’s survival remains uncertain, yet the dedication of scientists, forest officials and local communities continues to shine a light in the scrublands of Kadapa.
If the Courser is ever sighted again definitively, it will not just be a rediscovery — it will be proof that even the most hidden species can survive if given time, space and protection.