I think a regular reminder this exists, would heal me

Many thanks to @bou.org.uk and organizers of the BOUasm25 conference for the opportunity to present my work. My conference attendance and the research project both are funded by the Archives at @ncbsbangalore.bsky.social
Happy to take questions!

6/6 But now with so few left in the wild, how do we fill these gaps?
A first easy step may be a change in the questions themselves. Take a step back, open voluminous notes in an archive, and ask something on the lines of : "Where would a British sportsman in the 1840s go to hunt a female florican?"

5/6 To sum up: what we have is a one season, one sex, one track understanding of a species with a far more complex natural history.

Thus, current conservation efforts are being designed for a critically endangered species for which the knowledge of status and requirements are missing, or flawed.

4/6 Know-how of habitat? Not much better. Archives indicate they were hunted from rice, mustard, indigo fields - nests found in tea estates - females shot in tall elephant grasses. With a singular focus on its 'ideal' habitat, we may have missed out on conservation opportunities. Case in point...

3/6Take the population estimate. Last India-wide survey: pre 1990. Counted only males, and estimated using 1:1 sex ratio. The same report questions the methodology. For a dispersed-lek breeding species on a sharp decline, the actual ratio can be skewed either way. Current estimates may be way off.

2/6 A skulker of short grasses of sub-Himalayan Terai, <300 birds in India, very sensitive to habitat change. Or...?
Cracks appear upon interrogating these 'facts'. Archival literature shows we have not so much studied the Bengal Florican, as we've studied the MALE Bengal Florican. Ironic, since...