The state bird of Rajasthan, the 'Godawan' or 'Son Chiraiya', is the:

The Great Indian Bustard ("Ardeotis nigriceps"), known locally as "Godawan" or "Son Chiraiya", is the state bird of Rajasthan. It was declared the state bird in 1981.

About the Great Indian Bustard (GIB):

It is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world. Adult males can weigh up to about 15 kg and stand about one metre tall.

It has a long neck, long legs, a black crown and a white neck, with brown wings.

It lives in dry grasslands and scrublands.

It feeds on grass seeds, insects, small rodents and reptiles.

It is listed as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List and is protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Only about 150 birds are believed to survive in the wild, most of them in Rajasthan.

Its stronghold is the Desert National Park near Jaisalmer and Barmer in Rajasthan. Small numbers are also found in Gujarat (Kutch), Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Threats:

• The biggest threat is collision with overhead power lines, especially from solar and wind energy projects, because the bird has poor frontal vision and is heavy, so it cannot easily avoid them.
• Other threats include loss and degradation of grassland habitat, hunting and predation of eggs.
• In 2021, the Supreme Court directed that overhead power lines in priority GIB areas be placed underground where possible.

Conservation:

A conservation breeding programme was started with the Wildlife Institute of India, with centres at Sam (Jaisalmer) and Ramdevra in Rajasthan. Chicks have been successfully hatched from collected eggs and, more recently, through artificial insemination (2024).

The GIB is one of the species under the "Species Recovery Programme" of the Ministry of Environment.

The ornithologist Salim Ali had proposed it as India's national bird, but the Indian peafowl was chosen in 1963.

Other bustards in India: the lesser florican, the Bengal florican and the MacQueen's bustard.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Indian Peafowl is India's national bird.
• ✗The Sarus Crane is the state bird of Uttar Pradesh.
• ✗The Lesser Florican is another endangered bustard.