Sarus Crane - BirdForum Opus

Courtship dance
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, 4 July 2016

Antigone antigone

Grus antigone

Identification

Subspecies A. a. antigone
Pair nesting in Keoladeo National Park
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Bharatpur, India, 7 April 2015

176 cm (70 in); male is larger than the female

• Grey plumage
• Bare red head
• White crown
• Long dark pointed bill
• Black wing tips
• Long red or pink legs
  

Sexes are similar
Young birds are duller and browner.

Distribution

Asia and Australasia
Asia: China, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Philippines, Borneo
Australasia: Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland

Taxonomy

Also placed in the genus Grus.

Subspecies

Few weeks old juvenile with parents
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, 22 June 2017

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• A. a. antigone - Northern India to Nepal and (formerly?) Bangladesh
• A. a. sharpii - Cambodia and southern Laos; winters in Vietnam
• A. a. gillae - Spottily distributed coastal northern Australia (mainly Queensland)

Habitat

Freshwater marshes and plains, canals and village ponds.

Behaviour

Male and female engage in repeated, elaborate courtship dance.

Diet

Their diet includes wetland plants, seeds, rice grains ground nuts, also aquatic animals and crustaceans.

Breeding

Subspecies A. a. antigone
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, 28 June 2013

They nest on the ground; the clutch consists of 2-3 eggs which is incubated by both adults. They tend to mate for life.

Vocalisation

Recording © by Alok Tewari
Keoladeo National Park, India, July-2016
Call

Gallery

Click images to see larger version

• 

  Immature
  © by Alok Tewari
  Gurgaon Rural, India, 19 March 2014

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2015)
4. AvianWeb

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Sarus Crane. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 February 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sarus_Crane

External Links

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