The avian experts have recorded, apparently for the first time in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, the breeding of Sarus Crane, the world’s tallest flying bird and a threatened species.
The Sarus Crane, known for their dramatic dance moves, have found a suitable habitat for breeding at Himachal’s Pong Dam Lake in Kangra district and Punjab’s Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve in Gurdaspur district.
The bird is listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species and is a state bird of Uttar Pradesh. Their global population is estimated to be 25,000 to 37,000 and in India, their number is between 15,000 to 20,000 individuals.
The Sarus Crane is a resident of Southeast Asia and northern Australia. In India, the bird is mainly found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and northeast.
“In the recent years, we have observed small numbers of Sarus Crane migrating to Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Getting suitable habitat at Pong Dam Lake and Keshopur Community Reserve, a few pairs of Sarus Crane have become resident over there and it is for the first time that successful breeding is recorded with one chick at each wetland in the month of August 2020 which are being grown up now. This is a positive development as the concerned forest officials were able to record the breeding of the bird species,” said TK Roy, ecologist and Asia Waterbird Census (AWC) Delhi state-coordinator while talking to The Pioneer.
Standing tall at 152-156 cm with a wingspan of 240 cm, the Sarus Crane has a predominantly grey plumage with a naked red head and upper neck and pale red legs. Known to mate for life with a single partner, its breeding season coincides with the monsoon season.
Usually a clutch has only one or two eggs, which are incubated by both parents for a period of 26 to 35 days. The juveniles are said to follow their parents from the day of birth.
Gurpreet Singh, forest guard, Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve said that a pair of Sarus Crane has become a resident here for the last four years but it is for the first time that successful breeding of the pair is recorded and the chick has grown up now.
“There are around 10-12 pairs of Sarus Crane at Pong Dam Lake. But breeding of a pair has been recorded (at Dhameta beat) for the first time in the last several years. To ensure a safe habitat for the chick, we had put up wires around the nesting place to stop the livestock grazing in the area,” said Sachin Sirmouri, former forest guard, Pong Dam Lake.
About nesting and breeding behavior of the bird species, TK Roy said, “For nesting and breeding, Sarus Crane looks for safety first and habitat that is preferably shallow wetland (marshland) with isolation at a little higher place or isolation in the middle of flooded agricultural field (paddy field). They make bigger nests with mass of reeds or grass.”
“At both the wetlands in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, Sarus pairs must have got safe and undisturbed, isolated, suitable habitat as nesting and successful breeding is recorded for the first time there,” Roy added.
Notably, Sarus Crane’s population has suffered a rapid decline in the country because of habitat loss and degradation due to draining of wetland and conversion of land for agriculture, rampant use of pesticide resulting in poisoning. Over the years, their natural habitat has witnessed changes due to construction of highways, housing complex, road infrastructure and railway lines.
The ornithologists have also recorded many deaths of the bird species due to their collision with power lines and poisoning due to pesticides.
