Bird Photography · The Indian List
Cranes
3 of 5 species photographed
Five species reach India, and they are among the most watched and best-loved of the country's winter visitors — huge, loud, and gathering in flocks that draw crowds and conservation attention alike. Sarus Crane is the exception: the only one that's a true Indian resident, breeding here rather than passing through, and the tallest flying bird in the world. The other four arrive from further north each winter, in numbers ranging from thousands (Demoiselle) to a critically low handful (Siberian).
5Species in India
3Photographed
Wetlands and stubble fieldsWhere to look
WinterWhen the migrants arrive
Sarus, resident all yearThe exception
The species
Sarus Crane
Antigone antigone2 frames- Status
- Resident, breeding locally; India's only non-migratory crane
- Range
- Scattered across the northern and central plains, with strongholds in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat
- Habitat
- Wetlands, marshes, and flooded or standing agricultural fields, usually near water
- IUCN
- Vulnerable
The tallest flying bird in the world, and unmistakable — pale grey overall with a bare red head and upper neck and a white collar at the base of the neck. Pairs mate for life and are usually seen together or with a single chick, walking slowly through wetland margins or flooded fields. It is the one Indian crane that doesn't migrate, breeding and remaining in the same wetlands year-round.
FM0037
Sultanpur National Park, Gurugram, HaryanaA pair walking through wetland grass, bare red heads and white collars showing.
Demoiselle Crane
Grus virgo2 frames- Status
- Winter visitor, arriving in large numbers on passage and to wintering grounds
- Range
- Widespread across northern and peninsular India in winter, with major concentrations in Rajasthan and Gujarat
- Habitat
- Open agricultural land, stubble fields and wetland edges, often in large flocks
- IUCN
- Least Concern
The smallest of the world's cranes, and the one most likely to be seen in large numbers — flocks of hundreds gather at traditional feeding and roosting sites through the winter. The head and foreneck are black, set off by a long white plume of feathers trailing back from behind the red eye, against an otherwise pale grey body. Flocks are highly vocal and move between roost and feeding ground in loose, calling groups.
FM0039
Karanja Reservoir, Bidar, KarnatakaA group in flight, black necks and trailing white ear-plumes visible.
Common Crane
Grus grus1 frame- Status
- Winter visitor
- Range
- Chiefly north-western India, most regularly Rajasthan and Gujarat, in smaller numbers than Demoiselle
- Habitat
- Open agricultural land and wetland edges, often alongside Demoiselle Crane flocks
- IUCN
- Least Concern
Adults show a grey body with a black head and neck broken by a white stripe down the side and a small red crown patch, close in build to Demoiselle but bulkier and lacking the long trailing plume. Juveniles and first-winter birds are quite different — a plain warm brown head and neck with none of the adult's black-and-white pattern — and are most often picked out by size and structure while standing among a Demoiselle flock, exactly the setting they're found in here.
FM0041
Tal Chhapar Sanctuary, Churu, RajasthanJuvenile, plain brown-headed, among a flock of Demoiselle Cranes.
Black-necked Crane
Not yet foundPhotographs by Fareed Mohmed