What Is SARUS CRANE? SARUS CRANE Definition & Meaning
Channel: Audiopedia
Date: 06/11/2018

What is SARUS CRANE, What does SARUS CRANE mean, SARUS CRANE meaning, SARUS CRANE definition, SARUS CRANE explanation

The sarus crane (Antigone antigone) is a large non-migratory crane found in parts of the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. The tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in),[3] they are a conspicuous species of open wetlands in south Asia, seasonally-flooded Dipterocarp forests in south-east Asia, and Eucalyptus-dominated woodlands and grasslands in Australia.[4] The sarus crane is easily distinguished from other cranes in the region by the overall grey colour and the contrasting red head and upper neck. They forage on marshes and shallow wetlands for roots, tubers, insects, crustaceans and small vertebrate prey. Like other cranes, they form long-lasting pair-bonds and maintain territories within which they perform territorial and courtship displays that include loud trumpeting, leaps and dance-like movements. In India they are considered symbols of marital fidelity, believed to mate for life and pine the loss of their mates even to the point of starving to death. The main breeding season is during the rainy season, when the pair builds an enormous nest "island", a circular platform of reeds and grasses nearly two metres in diameter and high enough to stay above the shallow water surrounding it. Increased multi-season agriculture is often thought to have led to declines in Sarus crane numbers. However, more careful assessments show sarus crane numbers to have increased due to expansion of wet crops suggesting that the Green Revolution and the associated increases in artificial watering structures (canals, reservoirs) have led to growth in the sarus crane population.[5] The stronghold of the species is in India, where it is traditionally revered and lives in agricultural lands in close proximity to humans. Elsewhere, the species has been extirpated in many parts of its former range.
Source: Wikipedia.org