Sarus Crane
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| Sarus Crane Conservation status: Vulnerable | ||||||||||||||
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| Grus antigone Linnaeus, 1758 |
The Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) is a resident breeding bird in northern India, Nepal, Southeast Asia and Queensland, Australia. It is the world's tallest flying bird.
This is a very large crane, 156cm in length, which is found in freshwater marshes and plains. It nests on the ground laying two eggs in a bulky nest.
Adults are grey with a bare red head and white crown and a long dark pointed bill. In flight, the long neck is kept straight, unlike herons, and the black wing tips can be seen; their long red legs trail behind them.
Sexes are similar, but young birds are duller and browner. The Indian, Southeast Asian and Australian subspecies differ mainly in plumage shade.
These gregarious birds forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes probing with their long bills. They are omnivorous, eating insects, aquatic plants and animals, crustaceans, seeds and berries.
The Indian population is about 10,000 birds, and the Australian population of 5,000 birds may be increasing, but the southeast Asian subspecies has been decimated by war and habitat destruction.
In Australia, the Sarus can easily be mistaken for the Brolga. The Brolga has a more widespread distribution across the country, and its red colouring is confined to the head.
Reference
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
External link
- International Crane Foundation's Sarus Crane page (http://www.savingcranes.org/species/sarus.cfm)eo:Saras Gruo