Great Indian Bustard - in Culture

In Culture

The Mughal emperor Babur noted that " the flesh of the leg of some fowls, and of the breast of others is excellent; the flesh of every part of the Kharchal is delicious". The Great Indian Bustard was however a cryptic and wary bird making it a challenge for sportsmen, who had to stalk carefully (sometimes using covered bullock carts) to get within range. British soldiers in India considered it a delicacy and the species was among the top game-birds. William Henry Sykes notes that they were common in the Deccan region where a "gentleman" had shot a thousand birds. (E C Stuart Baker however notes that this may have been an exaggeration- ...we must remember that those were the days when tigers averaged twelve feet...) Jerdon noted that subadults and females had tastier flesh than males while Salim Ali notes that feeding on Mylabris tainted their flesh.

Tribal Bhils are claimed to have used a technique for trapping females that involves setting twigs on fire around the nest containing an egg or chick. The female was then said to run to the nest and singe its wings upon which the tribals captured it. Other trapping methods involving the use of nooses are described by Hume in his "Game Birds of India". The invention of the Jeep changed the method of hunting and it became extremely easy for hunters to chase bustards down in their open semi-desert habitats.

The name Hoom is used in parts of Maharashtra and is derived from the low booming call. The sharp barking alarm call leads to its name of Hookna in some parts of northern India. It is known in some other parts as Gaganbher or Gurayin for the resemblance of other calls to thunder or the roar of a tiger.

When the "national bird" of India was under consideration, the Great Indian Bustard was a proposed candidate (strongly supported by the Indian ornithologist, Salim Ali), but dropped in favour of the Indian Peafowl with at least one reason being the potential for being misspelt.