Sarus crane
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Sarus cranes ( Antigone antigone ); India |
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| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Sarus crane ( Antigone antigone , Syn . : Grus antigone ) is the largest crane with an average body length of 150 centimeters . It occurs from India to Australia. There are three subspecies in the large distribution area.
The IUCN classifies its stock situation as endangered ( vulnerable ).
features
Body measurements
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The Sarus crane usually weighs 7 to 8.5 kg and is 150 cm long. Large specimens reach a length of 170 cm, a weight of up to 12 kg and wing spans of up to 2.8 m. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism, but the males are slightly larger than the females.
Adult Sarus Cranes
The head and the upper neck area are largely featherless. The forehead and crown are pale gray-green. The rest of the head and the upper neck are orange-red to deep coral-red. Only the ear covers are feathered in light gray, and dark brush feathers can be found on the lower face, chin and throat. The rest of the top of the body is light gray. The chest, belly and the flanks are a slightly darker gray. The wings are light gray, but the wings and parts of the wing covers have black tips. The beak is light gray to light brown with a darker beak tip and occasionally a darker beak ridge. The orbital ring is light gray in most individuals and is usually not noticeable. The iris is reddish orange. The legs are dark flesh-colored.
Fledglings
In young birds, the head and upper neck are initially light cinnamon-brown plumage. The rest of the body plumage is similar to that of the adult birds, but is still interspersed with down and has an overall slightly light brownish tone. On the underside of the body, the down plumage is feminine, so that it looks slightly spotted. The beak is yellowish brown with an individually different black tip. The iris is blackish-brown, legs and feet are more brown than those of the adult birds.
Possible confusion
The Sarus crane is similar to the Brolga crane found in New Guinea and Australia. Unlike the Sarus crane, its distribution area extends to the south of Australia.
The Sarus crane is slightly larger than the Brolga crane. Sarus cranes have reddish legs, while those of the Brolga crane are dark gray to black. The red color on the head of the Sarus crane is much more pronounced and extends over the upper third of the neck. In the Brolga crane, the underside of the body is also slightly lighter than the upper side.
Distribution and subspecies
The distribution area of the Sarus crane stretches across large parts of Southeast Asia to northern Australia . Its distribution area includes the region from the Indian subcontinent to the southwest of China, the lowlands of Burg, the northwest and the center of Thailand as well as the Thai peninsula, Cambodia, the south of Vietnam, the south and center of Laos, the Philippines and the northeast of Australia. In Australia, the main area of distribution is the sparsely populated Cape York Peninsula . Sarus cranes are also sporadically observed in the Kimberley region , Western Australia and in the coastal area of the Northern Territory .
The following subspecies are distinguished:
- Antigone antigone antigone (Linnaeus, 1758) - The nominate form occurs in southern Pakistan, northern India and Nepal. Bangladesh probably also belonged to the distribution area previously. It is the largest subspecies.
- Antigone a. sharpii (Blanford, 1895) - Myanmar , Cambodia, the south of Laos and Vietnam. The populations overwinter in Vietnam.
- Antigone a. gillae (Schodde et al., 1989) - Northern Australia
Sarus cranes are part migrants. In mainland Australia, for example, there are regular movements of trains from the coastal region of the Gulf of Carpentaria and the east coast of Queensland. In contrast, the populations on the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula are resident birds. There are also migratory movements in the Atherton Tablelands : Sarus cranes only stay in this tropical highlands from July to around December.
habitat
The Sarus crane occurs in wet meadows and swamp areas . It also colonizes tidal and salt marshes. The Sarus Crane is also found in drier regions, provided there are enough watering places that it can use as resting places and where it can meet its fluid needs. He has fixed resting places. In its Australian distribution area, these are either flat spots in marshes or on peninsulas that protrude far into lakes. Where the range of the Sarus crane overlaps with that of the Brolga crane, the Sarus crane searches for food in more remote, wetter parts of the feeding ground.
In Australia, the extent to which the Sarus Crane has benefited from the increase in waterholes that have arisen as part of the increasing agricultural use in eastern Australia is being discussed. There is no clear evidence that this has resulted in an increase in the population. Higgins et al. believes it is possible that these artificial water points have increased the area that Sarus cranes can use as feeding areas in the dry season and that this has a positive overall effect on the population.
Way of life
The Sarus cranes live in monogamous marriage. It occurs predominantly in pairs or in small groups that usually contain no more than five individuals during the day. Such groups can be seen especially after the breeding season, larger gatherings occur at the places where Sarus cranes gather in the evening to spend the night there. In a few places 300 to 350 individuals have already been observed.
In some Australian ranges, the Sarus crane also looks for food near Brolga cranes and also uses the same resting places. Troops that consist of both Brolga and Sarus cranes are usually not sexually mature cranes.
food
The diet consists of insects such as grasshoppers, small animals such as mice and similar rodents, aquatic plants and seeds. While foraging for food, they move slowly and steadily with their heads down. They don't dig for food.
The foraging for food is most intense in the early morning hours, the second activity peak is the late afternoon hours.
Reproduction
In spring they build a simple ground nest out of twigs, branches and grass in the shallow water of the marshland. The female usually lays two relatively small eggs, which are hatched by both parent birds for 31–34 days. The chicks leave the nest after their first day of life and roam with their parents. At 9 to 10 weeks, the young birds are able to fly and become independent. However, they often stay with their parent birds until the next breeding season and reach sexual maturity at three to four years of age.
Sarus cranes have a life expectancy of 40 years.
Duration
The Sarus crane is classified by the IUCN as "endangered". While 8,000–10,000 birds still live in India, Nepal and Pakistan and fewer than 10,000 in Australia, the species is threatened in Southeast Asia. A major threat is the loss of habitat due to the drying up of wet meadows for agricultural use, as well as their pollution by pesticides or fertilizers. Adult animals are often hunted or their eggs are collected and, for example, sold.
literature
- PJ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds , Volume 2, Raptors to Lapwings, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 0-19-553069-1 .
Web links
- Antigone antigone inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- Sarus crane at AviBase
- Videos, photos and sound recordings about Antigone antigone in the Internet Bird Collection
- Duisburg Zoo
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d HBW Alive zum Saruskranich accessed on June 2, 2017.
- ↑ Antigone antigone in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 480.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 470.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 471.
- ↑ a b c d Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 481.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 485.
- ↑ a b c d Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 482.
- ↑ Higgins (Ed.): Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds . Volume 2, p. 483.