Sarus Crane (Antigone antigone)

In common with all crane species, these birds are monogamous and mate for life. Sarus cranes are usually seen in pairs or small family groups (7), although non-breeding birds stay in flocks until they are able to find partners and set up a breeding territory (6). The breeding season tends to be associated with periods of high rainfall and in India occurs after the monsoon rains from July to October (7). Nests are constructed on water in natural wetlands or in inundated paddy fields in exposed positions; a clutch of one or two, rarely three or four, eggs is laid and both parents take part in incubation, which lasts around a month (7). Juveniles are able to follow the adults on foot from the day of hatching and fledge roughly 2 to 2.5 months later; usually not all the eggs are successfully fledged (7). Most pairs are able to raise one chick and a few pairs in areas with excellent habitat conditions are able to raise both chicks (6). Sarus cranes are omnivores, foraging for a wide range of food including seeds and grains as well as frogs, lizards and grasshoppers (7).

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