Their fidelity is legendary
By Nutan Shukla

ENDEMIC to India, saras cranes or crimson-headed saras are the world’s tallest flying birds reaching almost to the height of a fully grown man. They have bare, red coloured legs which too are very long. Named simply saras in Hindi these large grey birds have naked red heads and upper necks.

Usually these birds are found in pairs stalking about in cultivation and marshland. Saras cranes, who pair for life, are venerated in India as a symbol of devotion and faithfulness towards each other. It has been observed that if one of the pair dies the other crane remains alone crying day and night, stops eating and may not survive for long. However, it is not certain whether the belief that they do not take second mate has any truth in it or not. But these birds have earned a great deal of respect among the people because of this belief and this is why they are never harmed or killed by the Hindus and have thus become tame.

There are four genera of cranes with 15 species. Birds living in the northern hemisphere are migratory. They are found in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America.

They are large birds with long legs and neck. They are white, grey or brown in colour. Their heads have bare red skin or plumes. These ground-nesting birds have medium to long bills which are straight in shape. The wings are large and broad. This shape helps the bird in soaring and gliding while the elongated secondaries are for the purpose of display. Cranes inhabit plains and marshes and fly with their necks extended. These short-tailed birds feed on crustaceans, fish, amphibians, insects and reptiles and also on vegetable matter.

Out of the total number of species, eight are found in China alone, which is the maximum number any single country has.

Among the most graceful birds on earth, some species of cranes stand nearly two metres tall, which means they are the world’s tallest flying birds with a wingspan of more than two metres. They are not found in Arctic, Antarctic, and South America, but their relative, limpkin, belonging to different family, has taken their place in South America. Limpkin’s style of walking is very curious and slow which makes it appear as if it is limping. This manner of walking has given it its name.

Cranes are known for their shrill and loud calls. Some species have bugle-like calls which can be heard for several kilometres. They produce a far-reaching call with the help of a long windpipe (passage from throat to lungs), which is situated in their breast, coiled-up in the form of a French horn. One such bird is the whooping crane which has been given this name for its loud and far-reaching call which is produced by a 1.5 metre long windpipe. Breeding in Canada’s North-West territories, whooping cranes are the rarest of the cranes. It is estimated that only about 150 birds are left on the earth. However, they are completely protected under the law, but still their recovery is very slow because of their low breeding rate.

Another species which is also facing threat to its existence is black-necked crane. It is the only alpine crane of the world and inhabits high table- lands of Central Asia. In India it is found in the cold wilderness of Ladakh. It is also found in China but not in very large numbers.

Mating birds usually maintain wide territories, which they announce every morning with the dawn of the new day. Their chicks are already well developed and covered in down when they come out of the egg shell.