- Grus antigone
Identification
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
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- G. a. antigone - Northern India to Nepal and (formerly?) Bangladesh
- G. a. sharpii - Cambodia and southern Laos; winters in Vietnam
- G. a. gillae - Spottily distributed coastal northern Australia (mainly Queensland)
Habitat
Freshwater marshes and plains, canals and village ponds.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet includes wetland plants, seeds, rice grains ground nuts, also aquatic animals and crustaceans.
Breeding
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
<flashmp3>Sarus_Crane.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Recording by Alok Tewari
(Keoladeo NP, Bharatpur, India, July-2016
Call
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2015)
- AvianWeb
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Sarus Crane. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sarus_Crane
External Links
