This proposal references several times “unpubl. data; compiled by Praveen J in litt. 2025″. The figure this refers to is posted below, showing maximum counts of Indian Courser 2014-2024 at 22 sites, as provided and reviewed by numerous experts across India.
The Indian Courser in our region primarily prefers substantially degraded, dry land with sparse, short vegetation—areas that are typically uncultivable and thus remained unused, providing ideal habitat conditions for the species.
However, recent infrastructural developments, such as the expansion of the state highway and the construction of the Gurgaon-Jhajjar highway, have significantly increased human population pressure in the area. This has led to a rapid shift of warehouses and industries into these regions, subsequently triggering a growing demand for residential developments.
As a result, the prime habitat of the Indian Courser is being increasingly encroached upon and converted for urban and industrial use, posing a serious threat to the survival of this species.
Pankaj Gupta
Member Delhi Bird Foundation
I am trying to locate Indian Coursers species as I keep visiting grasslands. I am sure it is becoming more and more difficult to locate even a single bird. In Yavatmal district in last few years, I could locate the species only on two-three occasions, in suitable habitats.
I my opinion the reasons are: (These are from Maharashtra state):
1. All the Industrial Development Corporations are given huge swathes of lands which were grasslands (so called wastelands). The biggest grassland in Amravati district is now almost gone, with all it coursers, larks, pipits. The large Industrial area set up in Nagpur district is at the cost of grasslands.
2. All the smaller mines are for stones and “murrum” are located in grasslands and in degraded hilly areas/ scrublands. These smaller mines when though cumulatively, has taken aways huge swathes of grasslands in Maharashtra.
3. New emerging threat is renewable energy. Every company will look for areas where Google map shows least “greenery” to get environmental clearances, besides agriculture plots where farmers are looking for some assured incomes.
4. Conversion of grasslands to agriculture is another big threat. The latest example is Bustard Sanctuary in Solapur and Ahilyanagar districts in Maharashtra. The Sanctuary has almost disappeared along with its bustards.
I am sure the species is declining at a great pace due to loss of its habitat in Maharashtra.
In places like Rollapadu Bird Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh, excessive grazing pressure from blackbucks and domestic cattle severely disturbs the Indian Courser’s ground-nesting behavior and reduces breeding success.
In Telangana, natural grasslands are rapidly being lost to urbanization, industrial expansion, and infrastructure projects, leading to fragmentation and disappearance of suitable courser habitat. Grasslands in India are often misclassified as wastelands, leading to their conversion without ecological consideration or protective status.
In the past, we used to notice a healthy population of Indian Coursers in several grasslands around Telangana in Yenakathala, Zaheerabad and Bidar. Almost all these places are now lost due to real estate development and disturbance due to human activity and bulldozers that clear the land. Suspect these have resulted in loss of habitat which impacted Indian Coursers – these are not sighted that much anymore.
I concur with the new status as Near Threatened. The Indian courser is losing its habitat rapidly and it needs to be monitoried vigilantly.
For Gujarat, after the initial assessment provided by Munjpara & Gadhvi (2009) for Naliya in Kachchh, more areas in Kachchh district have been converted for agricultural or industrial use. This has affected the habitat of the Indian Courser (IC) and this species is now no longer seen commonly in Kachchh. But, it should be stated that since Kachchh district is very large, there remain some habitats where the IC is still seen. For example, flocks are sometimes seen post monsoon, like here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkdLcN_gnNo
and there are sporadic sightings from LRK and GRK. Hence, it is likely that there are some undisturbed habitats where it still breeds successfully in Kachchh. But overall, due to rapid industrial growth and conversion of fallow land / grasslands into agriculture, the habitats are getting smaller and could adversely affect its population.
For Saurashtra, it is not very common anywhere but widely scattered, with sightings from many areas. It is absent in the forest belt of Gir / Girnar in Saurashtra as well as in the forest belt from N to S Gujarat. In central Gujarat, it is seen in Dahod and Bharuch districts, with scattered records elsewhere. Large counts have been reported earlier near Jamnagar (in 2008) in Saurashtra – see comments here https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/724722
A few breeding studies have been done in Gujarat (In Kachchh and Saurashtra) (Munjpara 2007,Sureja et al. 2021) which reported hatching success of 80% and 50% respectively though more studies are needed.
Though a population assessment for Gujarat has not been done, anecdotal evidence suggests that the IC is now rarely seen in areas where it was regular or seen in good numbers a few years ago. There is no doubt that its habitat is under pressure in the state. Overall, due to habitat loss in Gujarat, threats to this species have increased and its status as Near Threatened seems to be justified.
References:
Munjpara, S.B. (2007): Ecology of the Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus in Abdasa, Kutch, India. Bhavnagar University. Accessed from http://hdl.handle.net/10603/9171
Sureja, Neel J., Hemanya R. Radadia, Jayesh B. Patel, and Suresh K. Chovatiya. Notes on the Breeding Behaviour of Indian Courser Cursorius Coromandelicus from Khijadiya, Jamnagar District, Gujarat, India. Buceros 26, no. 1 (2021): 15–22.
The Indian Courser population has drastically reduced in places like Koonthankulam (Tirunelveli) & the grasslands of Tuticorin.
1) Even though quite a lot of their habitats are still intact here , the population has reduced in these suitable habitats.
2) With the increase in the feral dogs / crows numbers – I feel their breeding is what is impacted the most . Since they prefer very open , bare stony patches with less vegetation for their nesting , the eggs / Juvenile are very easily prone to be predated by them with ease.
3) The other reason i feel is the over grazing of cattle in these habitats , which destroys the eggs occasionally (or) exposes the chicks to other predators more often.
In my book Waders of the Indian Subcontinent I have mentioned that the Indian Courser is a bird to watch.The species is threatened by loss of habitat in most parts of its range. Expanding agriculture and encroachment on open areas/ grasslands has led to decline in some parts of its range . No longer reported in state of Punjab and most parts of Haryana.
Geographic Range: It is regular winter visitor to dry western part of West Bengal since 2014, maximum three birds were seen. We have very old record from Durgapur area by F. M. Gauntlett.
Link: https://ebird.org/species/indcou1
Link: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50395214
In very few locations near Mysuru, Karnataka. Indian coursers are sighted, where we also see good number of blackbucks. Atleast two of such locations are converted to industrial areas. These areas are also extensively used by nearby villagers for grazing of cattle and Sheep. We are not seeing any Indian Coursers at industrial areas which earlier used to be good habitat for them.
Status in Pakistan:
Localised Resident undertaking seasonal migrations.
Distribution:
The original distribution of the species covered much of the Indus Plains from Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to upper Punjab Plains and in the South all across Sindh province (Roberts 1992 and Grimmet 2008). Currently, the species has mainly been noted in select regions such as the Jhimpir plains, Cholistan desert and Achhro Thar area of Thar desert (Birds of Pakistan, Wildlife of Pakistan, Birds of Sindh Facebook groups).
Counts and Population:
Flocks of 5-8 individuals are the average count in Jhimpir grasslands (Palari pers. comm) during Summer months. The highest count in peak summer has been up to 24 adults from a single observation point. In the winter, the species is mainly absent from Jhimpir with highest known count yet recorded being of 3 individuals from a single observation point at Jhimpir grasslands. Additionally, species has also been noted recently (c. last 5 years) in few observations from:
1) Jungshahi, Thatta district, Sindh Province
1) Kot diji, Khairpur district, Sindh Province
1) Cholistan, Rahim Yar Khan district, Punjab Province
Breeding:
In recent times, breeding has only been reported from Jhimpir grasslands with most chicks being noted just with the onset of Monsoons in the area (End of July-September).
Threats:
1) Land reclamation leading to habitat loss.
2) Hunting.
Remarks:
Due to lack of observers, the species is largely under-observed in Pakistan based on my personnel understanding.
References:
Birds of Pakistan field guide (Grimmet et al 2008)
Birds of Pakistan Volume 1 (Roberst 1992)
Birds of Pakistan (https://www.facebook.com/groups/672890519498797)
Birds of Sindh (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1597462787219757)
Wildlife of Pakistan (https://www.facebook.com/groups/183652278426420)
Birds of Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KYLÄNPÄÄ 2008)
Ebird (https://ebird.org/species/indcou1)
Of late, especially in last two decades, their population is on decline (presumably) as I’m excluding those areas in my observation which are adjacent to their traditional known habitat but are more difficult to approach due to either being away from the roads where birding is usually done or due to roughness of surface where commuting isn’t easy, but there is a possibility that some numbers might have shifted.
However, around Raipur, in 35 kms radius, the decline can be attributed to six reasons …
1. Construction of buildings.
2. Plantation – which suddenly and drastically changes the habitat – which is usually ignored in the name of “improvement in environment”.
3. Rampant “murrum” quarries coming up in the expansive catchment areas of waterbodies such as small and medium size dams where the species is mostly found around my place of observation.
4. Unscrupulous brick kilns coming up in such catchment areas. It has become a practice to establish these kilns at the sources of water and transport clay. Rather than vice versa. Earlier they used to be established along they ruvers where suitable clay and water are available. But those are all full now.
5. Grabbing of these catchment areas for farming due to availability of water.
6. Open lands being used as playfields. On weekends, especially during early hours of the day, cricket matches are organised. This is their foraging time and in the breeding season the birds aren’t able to nest here.
Most of the population of these areas has declined and at some places, totally wiped out.
In the end, I’m coming back to my first statement, the reduced sightings of these traditional sites are presumed as decline in their population.
We had observed Indian Coursers in some pockets around Huballi-Dharwad. One such place was definitely a breeding ground as we have seen them with chicks and juveniles.
Past few years one breeding ground has been turned to residential plots on one side and industrial sheds have come up on the other side. Apart from this there is marked increase in large packs of feral dogs roaming the remaining grasslands which I feel is a great threat to these birds during breeding time.
One area near Unkal lake they have completely disappeared.
We still see some Coursers in flight sometimes but numbers have declined.
Observations based on summer exploration and sampling in the Northern Deccan
Subsequent to our earlier comment, we surveyed all 32 (5 X 5 km) grids in the Northern Deccan in the summer season (from March to April 2025). This effort constituted 960 minutes across 64 checklists, covering a distance of 16 kilometers. We recorded the species (3 individuals) only once throughout the systematic sampling.
Additionally, while exploring wetlands (excluding the systematic sampling), we recorded 4 individuals in Yavatmal and 1 individual in Gadchiroli. Clearly, the species is rare in the landscape, with very few records despite extensive sampling.
We have been observing breeding of Indian Courser at Bharan, Bharuch, Gujarat since 2012 in dry land comprising Reddish/yellowish brown soil with short grasses. This dry land is beside/part of a village pond, This is the only known place of sighting and breeding place of South Gujarat.. Two threats are identified which affected the species at this place.
(1) Three Large projects of Government of India namely Expressway, Bullet Train and Dedicated Freight Corridor are under construction. in South Gujarat. Very Large amount of soil is required for these projects.
Hence, the concerned agencies are legally and illegally mining the soils from this breeding ground from 2023 for the purpose. Furthermore, this soil digging work is carried out with heavy machinery from mid January to June, which is the breeding season of Indian Courser. The mining is still going on. And this soil excavation is happening not only here, but in the so called wasteland of almost all talukas of South Gujarat for these projects and other Industrial projects. South Gujarat is known for its large industrial zone for chemical and textile.
Further two textile units are established just 300meters away from the breeding Ground.
Thus, excavation of soil for Infrastructure development by the government and developing industrial areas nearby are the major threats.
(2) Second threat is from Bird watchers and photographers.
As earlier mentioned, this is the only known place in South Gujarat for this species, numbers of bird watchers come from the area of South Gujarat.
Among them some birders searing nests/ chasing the birds and their chicks on the ground by car for good photographs. This kind activity creates stress on the birds and possibility of nests being destroyed of Indian Courser and other ground nesting birds.
Though the core recommendation from the State of India’s Birds 2023 (SoIB 2023) has already been incorporated into the Red List assessment, a few additional details are worth considering:
Long-term Decline:
According to SoIB 2023, the species has experienced a long-term decline of approximately 76% from pre-2000 levels (LCI: 72%, RCI: 80%). This suggests the decline is not recent. However, this estimate is based on data from only 7% of the species’ range, and therefore was not directly used in the Red List assessment. Still, it can serve as supporting evidence alongside other data and anecdotal observations.
Source: SoIB 2023 – Overall Trend
https://stateofindiasbirds.in/species/indcou1/
Current Annual Trend (CAT):
The mean CAT is -4.3%, with a lower confidence interval (LCI) of -2.93%. The Red List assessment used the LCI to project a 28% decline over three generations (11 years). However, if the mean value of -4.3% is used instead, the projected decline becomes 38%, placing the species in the Vulnerable category. Additionally, comments from across the species’ range suggest the actual decline may be closer to the mean, rather than the more conservative LCI estimate.
Decline in Open Natural Ecosystems (ONE):
The species shows a steeper decline in its primary habitat — Open Natural Ecosystems — than in its overall trend. The CAT in ONE is at least -3.95% (LCI), which projects to a 35% decline over three generations. This is a cause for concern.
Source: SoIB 2023 – ONE Trend
https://stateofindiasbirds.in/species/one-indcou1/
State-level Trends:
In Maharashtra, one of the key states for this species, the CAT (LCI) is -3.16%, which projects to a nearly 30% decline over three generations.
Source: Maharashtra Trend
https://stateofindiasbirds.in/species/mh-indcou1/
In Haryana, the decline is even steeper, although the state covers a smaller portion of the species’ overall range.
Source: Haryana Trend
https://stateofindiasbirds.in/species/hr-indcou1/
Range Coverage of Trend Data:
The CAT-based projection of a 28% decline (using the LCI) is based on data from 24% of the species’ range. It is possible that under-sampled areas may host relatively stable populations, although current regional feedback does not support this hypothesis.
Source:
https://zenodo.org/records/11124590/files/02_SoIB_2023_main.xlsx (linked from our website)
I have been observing Indian Coursers in a Grassland on the outskirts of Coimbatore city in Tamilnadu. I have had the opportunity to first see them in this location in 2016 and have been regularly seeing them every since. Their populations used to fluctate between 4-5 individuals to a a peak of 20-25 individuals over the years. The grassland also had been a breeding ground and Coursers have been photographed on a few ocassions incubating eggs and along with the young ones. However, the grassland is now being rapidly being developed into residential sites and consequently, the numbers of Coursers have started dwindling. In the last two years, I have not witnessed a single Indian Coursers in that Grassland.
In Tamilnadu this species was sighted often in a few pairs along the dry grassland and fallow agriculture land till 1990s . Its sightings became rare thereafter due to landscape changes especially urbanisation. In recent years at Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary two pairs can be seen occasionally on the grassland. A few pairs could be seen at the buffer zones of Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary in southern Tamil Nadu about four years back. Its nesting was also not reported from Tamil Nadu. Many Tamilnadu birders also confirm its rarity. I strongly recommend to include this species initially under Near-threatened category.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 25 April 2025. We will now analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List category on this page on 25 April 2025, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
We thank all those that have taken the time to comment above and share their data/observations. Broadly, these appear to support the above proposal to uplist Indian Courser to Near Threatened. Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2025 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classification outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 4 May 2025, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2025 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in October 2025, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
We received the following comment from Moditha Kodikara Arachchi while the forum was temporarily closed:
“The status of the Indian Courser in Sri Lanka
In literature, Indian Courser is mainly noted to have a distribution in the extreme north-western coastal belt to the north and north eastern part of Sri Lanka. Due to the prevailed civil war, it was not recorded for many decades, where only after the war ended first sightings came from Vidataltivu area, north of Mannar and also from Arippu, south of Mannar. This was around 2010. But from there onwards, the number of sites it was observed has drastically decreased. Vidataltivu was one main location on the mainland it was observed for many years, but in the recent few years, no birds have been reported from there. Currently Delft island seems to be the stronghold of the Indian Courser in Sri Lanka, with breeding also reported, but the population there seems to be very small (possibly less than 20?). In some years higher number of birds were reported, possibly migrants showing up. Other than Delft, currently there seems to be no reliable location for Indian Courser in Sri Lanka, though unexplored preferable habitats exist over the northern region. In previously observed sites such as Vidataltivu, extensive cattle grazing, human settlements and related disturbances may be the main causes for the birds to no longer exist there. These causes could be the main threats to this species in the northern Sri Lanka with expanding human settlements and continuous loss of habitat. Currently Indian Courser is identified as Critically Endangered (CR) in the National Red List.”
Nationally threatened species that has further declined in recent years —primarily in its strongholds at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, east Nepal. It should be listed as near-threatened.
I wish to add two historical data points based on my own sightings of Indian Courser in Gujarat. The first is from Velavadar National Park, sometime in 1988-89 (?); where on a bird-watching trip organised by WWF-India , we counted over 50 Indian coursers in a small (50 x 50 m) area around the erstwhile rest house (Kaliyar Bhavan). It was difficult to believe that such a number could be seen even in those days and that too in human vicinity. The second, more recent, around year 2000/2001 was of about 10-12 individuals from fallow agricultural fields on the precincts of Thol Bird Sanctuary, barely 25 km from the city of Ahmedabad. I have also seen the species in the Little Rann of Kachchh. It is beyond doubt that the species – like most of its dry area-Deccan region cousins is losing out to human activities already listed by many in the comments made before me. It is not just grasslands, but revenue lands nearby villages (Gauchar – land that was traditionally ‘reserved’ for livestock grazing, but unfortunately going to industries in many places) and thorn-scrub vegetation in suburban areas/around wetlands are also being lost. The ‘near-Threatened’ status though seems justified to many at present could come as an understatement to our shock and surprise…in not too distant a future!
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and a final decision on this species’ Red List category will be posted on this page on 12 May 2025.