Bengal Florican - Distribution and Ecology

Distribution and Ecology

It has two disjunct populations, one in the Indian subcontinent, another in South East Asia. The former occurs from Uttar Pradesh (India) through the Terai of Nepal to Assam (where it is called ulu mora) and Arunachal Pradesh in India, and historically to Bangladesh. The South East Asian population occurs in Cambodia and perhaps adjacent southern Vietnam. This species is mostly resident on its breeding grounds; around Tonle Sap in Cambodia however, the birds use grasslands near the lake to breed, and move away from the water in the wet season when the breeding grounds are flooded. Similarly, the Terai population seems to move to warmer lowland locations in winter. Migrations are not long-distance, however, and probably are restricted to a few dozen kilometers.

Bengal Floricans live in open tall grassland habitats with scattered bushes. The most important grass species are satintails (Imperata, in particular Cogongrass I. cylindrica), sugarcane (Saccharum, in particular S. munja and Kans Grass S. spontaneum), as well as Desmostachya bipinnata. The birds are usually encountered in the early mornings and evenings and are most easily spotted in the breeding season from March to August, which is when most censuses of the population are conducted. Particular between March and May, when they give their stunning courtship display, males are far more conspicuous than the cryptically-coloured females, which moreover prefer high grassland rich in sugarcane.