Himachal hosts world’s tallest flying bird

UNA - Green activists worried over the falling numbers of the Sarus crane, the tallest flying bird in the world, heaved a collective sigh of relief after they were spotted in agricultural fields near this Himachal Pradesh town.

Bird enthusiasts are excited after their regular sightings in marshy and agricultural fields along the Swan river, a tributary of the Sutlej.

Prabhat Bhatti, a bird watcher and wildlife photographer based in Nangal in Punjab, has spotted the bird a number of times in the area. He photographed two chicks and a female

Sarus sauntering in the marshy areas along the river near the Talewal industrial town last week.

“This is the first time that I have spotted two chicks. Earlier, only adults (three pairs) were seen in the area,” Bhatti told IANS.

Bhatti, who has been monitoring Sarus cranes in the area for more than six years, said the presence of chicks shows that the cranes have started breeding in the area.

In India, the bird is found in areas in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, but their numbers have been declining for the last few years.

The tallest of all the 15 species of cranes in the world, the Sarus is distinguished by its contrasting red head and attains a height of up to six feet, with a wingspan of eight feet.

The Red Data Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature - a compendium of species facing extinction - has put the bird in the “vulnerable” category.

“Great news indeed,” K.S. Gopi Sundar, research associate (India) of the US-based International Crane Foundation, said via e-mail, reacting to the sighting of chicks.

He said their population in Himachal, especially in the Pong wetlands in Kangra district, seems to have been increasing since the late 1990s.

“Ideal water levels during the breeding season, and increase in cropping activity seems to be providing Sarus with good breeding habitats. In Punjab, the sightings of Sarus are becoming common largely due to more interested people.

“We don’t really have a good idea of how well the population there is doing, but given that the Himachal population is breeding and increasing, it’s very likely that more

Sarus will now fly to neighbouring Punjab, especially during winters,” he said.

Una district, located in lower Shivaliks, adjoins Punjab.

Gopi Sundar attributes the dip in Sarus numbers to the increased use of pesticides, changing cropping patterns, degradation of wetlands and marshy areas and human-based mortalities like egg stealing.

The bird normally breeds during monsoon and lays one or two eggs, sometimes three.

The chicks are fed by the parents for the first few days. They follow their parents for food for more than three months.

Chief Wildlife Warden A.K. Gulati said the wildlife wing would soon conduct a faunal survey of the area to know the exact status of the endangered bird.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)