69

Spring Migration of Eurasian Cranes Grus grus
from Gujarat, India to Their Northern Breeding Grounds
Hiroyoshi HIGUCHI1*, Sàlim JAVED2, Meenakshi NAGENDRAN3 and Masaki FUJITA4
1

Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, The University of Tokyo,
1-1-1 Yayoi, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
2
Terrestrial Environment Research Center, Environment Agency ― Abu Dhabi,
PO Box 45553, Abu Dhabi, UAE
3Life Sciences, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA 90405, USA
4
Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Naha, Okinawa 900-0006, Japan*e-mail: higuchi@es.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Abstract
Three Eurasian Cranes Grus grus were successfully satellite tracked during their spring migration
north from Gujarat, western India. They used the same migratory flyway across Pakistan and Afghanistan,skirting the Hindukush mountains, during their spring migration north, but their stopover sites differed fromeach other. The cranes summered at three different locations, which were not too far from the headwaters of
Ob River, in western Russia. They covered total migration distances ranging from 3,950 km to 4,786 km.
The total number of stopovers ranged from three to eight. This migratory behavior suggests that there areseveral wetlands along the flyway that are important for these long distant migrants, and conservation ofmany of these wetlands warrants serious consideration, especially if any of them are under imminent dangerof being altered by humans. The wetlands in the breeding areas support thousands of cranes, and it is also inthis same region that the last of the breeding grounds of the critically endangered western flock of Siberian
Cranes are to be found. This region will be important for the conservation of cranes.
Key words: Eurasian Crane, Grus grus, migration, satellite tracking, wetland

1. Introduction
Satellite telemetry has been used since the late 1980s
to track numerous avian species. The migration routes,
stopover sites, staging areas, summer locations, andwintering areas of populations of Japanese Red-crowned
Cranes Grus japonensis, White-naped Cranes Grus vipio,
Hooded Cranes Grus monacha, Demoiselle Cranes
Anthropoides virgo, Siberian Cranes Grus leucogeranus,
Eurasian Cranes Grus grus, Oriental White Storks,
Ciconia boyciana, Bar-headed Geese, Anser indicus,
and numerous other avian species have been successfully tracked (Strikwerda et al., 1986; Jouventin &Weimerskirch, 1990; Higuchi et al., 1992, 1994a, 1994b,
1996, 2000, 2004; Launay et al., 1999; Javed et al.,
2000; Meyburg et al., 2000; Kanai et al., 2000, 2002a,
2002b; Shimazaki et al., 2004; Higuchi & Pierre, 2005).
Cranes migrate enormous distances, and those that breedin the northern latitudes of Asia, such as Siberian,Eurasian, Demoiselle, Japanese Red-crowned, Whitenaped and Hooded Cranes, migrate across numerous
countries, some over the tallest mountains in the world,the Himalayas (Kanai et al., 2000). India is an important
Global Environmental Research
12: 69-74 (2008)
printed in Japan

winter terminus for Siberian, Eurasian and Demoiselle
Cranes.
Cranes encounter enormous challenges during
migration, including inclement weather, inhospitable
habitats, hunting, disappearance of wetland habitat andtoxins such as pesticides, all of which impact theircontinued survival. There are 15 species of cranes in theworld, ten of which occur in Asia, six of these being
threatened (Collar et al., 1994, Meine & Archibald,
1996; BirdLife International, 2000, 2003).
Cranes are wetland obligate species, and wetland
habitats around the world are threatened, especially inareas where there is human habitation (Scott, 1989).
Furthermore, cranes use the same migratory routes andwetlands year after year, return to the same breeding
territory and generally use the same wintering area
annually (Johnsgard, 1983; Sauey, 1985; Higuchi et al.,1994a; Urbanek & Bookhout, 1994; Meine & Archibald,
1996). Identifying the migration routes, stopover sites,
staging areas, wintering grounds, breeding territories,
summer sites and causes of mortality, have all become
essential components of the conservation effort to protect cranes.
©2008 AIRIES

70

H. HIGUCHI et al.

Two Eurasian Cranes were first satellite tracked from
Keoladeo National Park (KNP) in Bharathpur, Rajasthan,India, in 1993. These two birds left India on 2 April
1993, took a westerly route skirting the Hindukush, andarrived at their summer site near Omsk, Russia, on
2 May 1993, flying a total distance of 4,000 km, in
30 days of which 20 days were spent at rest sites(Higuchi et al., 1994a). Kanai et al. (2000) described
the fall migration south of Demoiselle Cranes from
Mongolia and Kazakhstan to Gujarat, India. Also in thatstudy (Kanai et al., 2000) the cranes from Mongolia
flew directly over the Himalayas, and the crane from
Kazakhstan skirted west of the Hindukush, finally
wintering in Gujarat.
The objectives of the present study were to determine the migration routes, stopover sites and migration
pattern of a few Eurasian Cranes satellite-tracked from adifferent wintering area than KNP, i.e., Gujarat in northwestern India. This study was part of a larger projectthat also involved satellite tracking cranes and storks
from the Russian Far-East (Higuchi et al., 2000; Tamura
et al., 2000). We also discuss conservation issues in relation to the migration of Eurasian Cranes.

2. Study Area and Methods
The state of Gujarat, India, is an important wintering
area for thousands of migratory birds, especially cranes
and other water birds (Ali & Ripley, 1987; Grimmett
et al., 1999; Tiwari & Rahmani, 2002). Wetlands andgrasslands in the area are important habitats which are
now much reduced and fragmented (BirdLife International, 2003). Our field efforts were carried out in wetlands, agricultural lands and natural grasslands not far
from the city of Bhuj. The area encompassing the Rannof Kutch and its surrounding wetlands and grasslands
provide habitat for numerous species of birds andmammals.
Eurasian Cranes were captured using traditional,
indigenous capture techniques to capture waterbirds(Higuchi et al., 1994a). Experienced bird trappers who
had worked on various projects with the Bombay
Natural History Society and Department of Wildlife
Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, captured the birds.
A series of noose lines (leg nooses) were laid out in
potential feeding and drinking areas of the cranes,around peanut Arachis hypogea and sorghum Sorghum
vulgare fields. Peanuts and sorghum are grown in
Gujarat and are harvested during winter. Waste peanutand sorghum seeds after harvesting constitute the preferred food items for thousands of cranes in the region.
Cranes typically visit these feeding sites at dawn. Our
strategy of hiding noose lines in such areas was successful in capturing the cranes.
Two Eurasian Cranes were captured just 1 km from
Lyja Village on Mandvi-Naliya Road (22.91ºN, 69.20ºE)
and fitted with PTT IDs 22156 (on 2.01.1999) and
19003 (on 15.12.2000). A single Eurasian Crane wascaptured and fitted with PTT ID 22158 at Nakhatrana
Village (23.240ºN, 69.151ºE) on 4.01.2000. All thecranes were captured and marked in the Bhuj district(27.217ºN, 77.533ºE), in Kutch (Table 1). Five othercranes were also captured and fitted with PTTs, but they
could not be successfully tracked as location signals
ceased to be received shortly after deployment of the
PTTs, because of either malfunctioning PTTs or bird
mortality.
The PTTs used were model T-2050, (manufactured
by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, NTT),
70×34×23 mm in size, weighed 45 g, and included an
18 cm antenna. These PTTs were harnessed as backpacks on captured cranes, with Teflon-treated ribbons as
described in Nagendran et al. (1994). Each transmitter
was programmed to send a signal every 60 seconds on a
6 hr active 12 hr inactive duty cycle to extend the battery life over 119-170 days. Location data werereceived through the Argos satellite system. Satellite
location data ranged in accuracy from location class(LC) 0 (least accurate; >1,000 m) to LC3 (most accurate; <150 m). We assumed LC1(350 m ≤ accuracy<1,000 m) and LC2 (150 m ≤ accuracy < 350 m) were
accurate within 1 km, in line with maximum margins oferror given by Keating et al. (1991) and Service Argos(1996). We included LC0 data when determining migration routes as long as locations obtained were reasonablewith respect to tracking times and the location appeared
to be logical and along the migration route where thepreceding and following locations were LC1-3. We
received some aberrant locations that were not in linewith tracking times and excluded these from analyses.
The time spent at any site was estimated as the difference between the first day of arrival and the day of
departure from that site.

3. Results
Three of the eight Eurasian Cranes captured and fitted with PTTs provided valuable migration data (Table 1,
Fig. 1). For these three birds, twenty sites were identi-

Table 1 Capture, marking and tracking of the three Eurasian Cranes that were successfully tracked.
Date of Marking

Locality22156

2.1.1999

Lyja, Crop field

Mandvi

Adult

Duration Distance traveled from
Summer Location/ofwintering area toCountry
migration summer location in km
98 days
3,950
Kokalaat, Kazakhstan

22158

4.3.2000

Chari Dhand

Nakhatrana

Subadult

27 days

4,363

Isim, Russia

19003

15.12.2000

Lyja, Crop field

MandviAdult

28 days

4,786

Chelyabinsk, Russia

PTT
ID

Area

Age

Spring Migration of Eurasian Cranes Grus grus from Gujarat

Fig. 1 Spring migration routes of three Eurasian Cranes
satellite tracked from Gujarat, India, during
1999-2001.

71

fied as stopover areas during the course of migration,
excluding the wintering areas and summer sites(Table 2).
The Eurasian Crane fitted with PTT ID 22156 started
spring migration on 8 March 1999. The last location
signals were received from this bird on 29 July 1999.
This crane had a total of eight stopover sites, one in
Turkmenistan and the rest in Kazakhstan. The timespent at each stopover site was highly variable, ranging
from 2-36 days (Table 2). The crane signaled from thefirst stopover site in Turkmenistan, in marshes aroundthe Tedzen River east of the Iran-Turkmenistan borderon 14 March and rested at this location for 36 days. The
summer area for this crane was at Kokalaat (49.682ºN,
64.318ºE) in marshes along drainages of the Turgaj and
Uly Ziansik Rivers in Kazakhstan. The crane covered atotal of 3,950 km over a period of 98 days.
The Eurasian Crane fitted with PTT ID 22158 left
India on 30 March 2000. Locations were not available
for this crane until 11 April, and on this date locations
were received from the marshes on the southern shoresof the Aral Sea, south of Mujnak, at the mouth/delta of
the Amu Darya, in Kazakhstan. Between 30 March and
11 April the crane had covered approximately 2,500 km.
The bird left this site on 11 April. This crane had a totalof two more stopover sites in Kazakhstan, before arriving at its summer site in Isim (56.805ºN, 69.409ºE),
Russia, on 25 April, 2000, covering a total of 4,363 km
over 27 days (Table 2, Fig. 1). PTT ID 22158 continued

Table 2 A list of areas visited by the three Eurasian Cranes satellite tracked from Gujarat, India, during 1999-2001.
PTT ID

Location

Country

LatitudeLongitude

22156

MandviEast ofTurkmenistan
borderIndia

22.900-23.060N

69.021-69.245E

22156

Turkmenistan

36.612-36.701N

61.296-61.671E
62.010-62.322E
61.775-61.816E
63.131-63.403E
62.605-62.897E
63.417-63.485E
62.847-62.942E
63.652-63.741E

22156
22156
22156
22156
22156
22156
22156

ZhubanKazakhstan

Ul'Kensor
Kosagal
Aralkol
Torghay

Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

43.427-43.485N
49.889-49.909N
51.337-51.441N
51.505-51.621N
51.565-51.588N
51.033-51.081N
49.460-49.651N

22156

Kokalaat

Kazakhstan

49.682-49.852N

64.094-64.443E

22158
22158
22158
22158

Nakhatrana

India
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

23.224-23.257N
43.157N
48.764N
50.397N

69.075-69.163E
59.577E
64.412E
66.675E

22158

Ishim

Russia56.792-56.808N

69.409-69.469E

22158

Morvi

India

22.727-23.697N

70.520-70.967E

19003

MandviIndia

22.796-23.002N

68.962-69.849E

Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan

30.197N
32.059N
34.007N

Turkmenistan

19003
19003
19003
19003

East of
Ashikabad

19003
19003
19003
19003

Emba

Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

19003

Chelyabinsk

RussiaDuration of stay, dates(days)
Jan. 2-Mar. 8, 1999, (66+)

HabitatComments

Wetland

Capture site

River drainage

Rest area

Apr. 20-21, 1999, (2)Apr. 24-27, 1999, (4)May 1-8, 1999, (8)May 9-27, 1999, (19)
May 28-31, 1999, (4)Jun. 2-8, 1999, (7)Jun. 9-12, 1999, (4)Jun. 13-Jul. 29, 1999,(47+)

River drainage
River drainage
Wetland
Wetland
Wetland
Wetland
River drainage

Rest area
Rest area
Rest area
Rest area
Rest area
Rest area
Rest area

River drainage

Summering area

Mar. 4-30, 2000, (27+)
Apr. 11, 2000, (1)Apr. 13, 2000, (1)Apr. 15, 2000, (1)Apr. 25-May 7, 2000,(13+)
Nov. 23, 2000-Feb. 13,
2001, (83+)

Wetland

Capture site
Rest area
Rest area
Rest area

Mar. 14-Apr. 18, 1999,(36)

Amu Darya delta
River drainage
River drainage

Summering area

Wetland

2000 capture site,
2001 winter site

Wetland

Capture site

64.153E
65.151E
61.396E

Dec. 15, 2000-Mar. 31,
2001, (107+)
Apr. 3, 2001, (1)Apr.4, 2001, (1)Apr.4, 2001, (1)River drainage
Wetland
River drainage

Rest area
Rest area
Rest area

38.080-38.312N

59.428-59.710E

Apr.6-11, 2001, (6)River drainage

Rest area

43.578N
47.538-47.858N
47.774N
49.643-49.727N

59.709E
63.799-64.141E
62.345E
59.224-59.332E

Near Aral Sea
River drainage
River drainage
River drainage

Rest area
Rest area
Rest area
Rest area

55.361-55.478N

61.900-62.483E

Apr.13, 2001, (1)Apr.15-16, 2001, (2)Apr.16, 2001, (1)Apr.17-23, 2001, (7)Apr.27-Jul.28, 2001,(93+)

Wetland

Summering area

72

H. HIGUCHI et al.

to signal intermittently throughout the summer, and evenprovided some locations during its fall migration south.
Final signals were received from this PTT during 5-13
February, 2001, from Morvi in Gujarat, India, which
was about 200 km from its capture site/wintering area in
2000.
The Eurasian Crane fitted with PTT ID 19003 left on
migration on 31 March, 2001. The crane had threestopover sites in southern and southeastern Afghanistanalong the tributaries and floodplains of the Helmand
River, each for one day, on 3 and 4 April, then it rested
in Turkmenistan from 6-11 April east of Ashbad, followed by three stopover locations in Kazakhstan, eachfor one day, on 13, 15, and 16 April. On 13 April thiscrane rested by the Aral Sea, followed by stops along
the Turgaj River drainage from 15-23 April. This crane’ssummer site was near Chelyabinsk (55.395ºN, 62.117ºE),
Russia, where it arrived on 27 April (Table 2, Fig. 1).
Signals were received from this PTT through 28 July,
2001. This crane covered a total of 4,786 km over a
period of 28 days.

4. Discussion
The three cranes used the same migratory flyway
across Pakistan and Afghanistan, skirting the Hindukush
mountains, during their spring migration north, but theirstopover sites differed from each other. Both the cranes
tracked in 1993 took 30 days to complete their migration covering little over 4,000 km of total distance. The
cranes tracked in our study covered total migration
distance from 3,950 km (ID 22156) to 4,786 km (ID19003). The total number of stopovers ranged fromthree to eight, which is comparable to five main stopovers used by the two cranes in 1993.
This migratory behavior suggests that there are several wetlands along the flyway that are important tothese long distant migrants (Shimazaki et al., 2004;
Higuchi & Pierre, 2005), and conservation of many ofthese wetlands warrants serious consideration, especially if any of them are under imminent danger of being
altered by humans. Their staging and stopover sites also
differed from those used by the Eurasian Cranes tracked
from India in 1993 (Higuchi et al., 1994a). The summer
sites of cranes satellite tracked from India to Russia in
1993 were east of the Ural Mountains, not far from thesummer sites of the Siberian Cranes satellite tracked
from Iran (Kanai et al., 2002a). However, it appears that
all three successfully satellite tracked cranes from thisthree-year study summered within fairly close proximityof each other. The wetlands in this region support
thousands of cranes, and it is also in this same region
that the last breeding grounds of the critically endangered western flock of Siberian Cranes are to be found(Kanai et al., 2002a). This region is important for theconservation of cranes.
More long term satellite tracking studies of Eurasianand Demoiselle cranes from their wintering grounds
across India would provide much needed migratory data,such as different migratory routes, innumerable stopoverand staging areas, different breeding/summer sites, andthe potential threats that these migrants face. Basic
biological and ecological information is necessary to thecontinuation of conservation efforts for many species,and cranes rank high on the list, since they continue todecline in numbers. This three-year study is a pilot effort,
and the results suggest a continuation of such satellite
tracking efforts to help expand our basic knowledge andunderstanding of these long-distant migrants.

Acknowledgements
We thank the University of Tokyo for providing
grants to undertake this work. Special thanks are extended to D. Ferguson (USFWS) for his support andencouragement. We thank the Gujarat Forest Department for its unprecedented support to undertake cranetelemetry work. Special thanks are extended to C.S.
Upadhyay (Undersecretary Gujarat Government), G. A.
Patel (Chief Wildlife Warden, Gujarat) and Bharat
Pathak (Conservator of Forest, Gujarat) for theirunconditional support and quick processing of ourpermission. We also thank the Conservator of Forests,
Kutch, Surendra Kumar (Wildlife Preservation Officer,
Govt. of India) for their support. We sincerely acknowledge the support and cooperation of the officials of
Ministry of the Environment, Government of India,
Department of Wildlife Sciences, AMU, and theBombay Natural History Society (for leasing the bird
trappers during our fieldwork). We also thank Emiko
Morishita, Emiko Hiraoka, Naoya Hijikata, Shahid
Bashir Khan and Tahmina Shafiq for their help in preparing this manuscript. Finally we thank Himmatsinhji,
M. Qasim, M. Akhtar, Ali Hussain, Mohammad, Jaseem
Baksh and Tanveer for their invaluable expertise andassistance with field work. This research was funded by
Ministry of the Environment of Japan.
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Hiroyoshi HIGUCHI
Hiroyoshi HIGUCHI is a Professor of
Biodiversity Science at the University ofTokyo. He is interested in various aspects
of Environmental Sciences, ranging fromthe ecology and conservation of migratory
birds through the conflicts between wildlife and humans to the effects of climatechange on biodiversity. He has publishedmany books including “What’s Wrong with Crows!?” (Shogakkan, Tokyo)
and “Bird Migration – Satellite Tracking of Migratory Birds –” (NHKBooks, Tokyo). He has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Global Environmental Research since 2006.

Salim JAVED
Dr. Salim JAVED is Deputy Manager ofBird Conservation at the Environment
Agency – Abu Dhabi in the United ArabEmirates. He has a Masters and PhD in
Wildlife Sciences from the Department ofWildlife Science, Aligarh Muslim University, India, where he taught post-graduate
students for several years before moving to
the UAE. He is interested in studies of
movement and migration using satellite telemetry and has been working inthis field both in the UAE and overseas, particularly in India.

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H. HIGUCHI et al.
Meenakshi NAGENDRAN

Dr. Meenakshi NAGENDRAN is a Wildlife
Biologist in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service’s Division of International Conservation. She has an M.S. in Wildlife
Science from South Dakota University, aPh.D. in Zoology (emphasis in Conservation Biology and Behavior) from North
Dakota State University, with postdoctoral work at the University of Tokyoand a D.V.M. from the University of California-Davis, School of
Veterinary Medicine. She has been working on endangered species
conservation issues as a field biologist both in the USA and overseas since
the late 1980s. Current address: US Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N.
Fairfax Drive, Suite 730, Arlington, VA 22201, USA

Masaki FUJITA
Masaki FUJITA is a curator at the Okinawa
Prefectural Museum and Art Museum. He
is interested in morphology, locomotion
and behavior of animals, especially birds.
He has worked on the bipedal locomotionof birds; for instance, the mechanicaleffect of head-bobbing on walking,behavioral context of head-bobbing during
walking and kinematic features of birds’ tree-climbing. Recently, he has
been promoting the excavation and study of fossil animals and humans in
Okinawa Prefecture.

(Received 27 December 2007, Accepted 11 January 2008)