Body language

Cranes have among the largest non-vocal communication repertoires in the animal kingdom. Body language is exceedingly important. Here are a few Sarusy gestures that other cranes would know the meaning of instantly.

Wing half-open, an exaggerated walk with legs raised higher than usual, this crane walks up very meaningfully to another Sarus that had landed uncomfortably close to an active nest. The interloper got the message rather quickly!

Crane employ a large number of threat postures increasingly aggressive in their meaning. This female (right extreme) gives a classic ruffle-threat combined with a bow to the pair adjacent to her territory while her partner engages them at closer quarters.

This rare bow-threat is carried out with elan and grace successfully dissuading a pair flying overhead from landing in this crane's territory.

Cranes' large body size and incredible physical prowess poses a great risk of physical injury should they need to joust physically each time a disagreement occurs. Non-vocal postures with specific meaning, like the three above, are a safer alternative for all concerned.

(Photographs information: Top: 10 Jul 2008, Mainpuri district; middle: 28 Nov 2008, Etawah district; bottom: 07 Sep 2009, Farrukhabad district.)

Wing-stretch

All birds stretch their wings to get the blood flowing and stretch tired muscles. When the world's tallest flying bird does it, the simple activity becomes a spectacular sight! The world is truly its oyster.

(Photo details: All photos taken on 07 Sep 2009 in Farrukhabad district.)

Morning with the Sarus

Walking around in the flooded rice paddies during the monsoon can be magical. The Sarus make it more so. Here are two photographs that underline this statement.

The rains ensure that there is plenty of wet, grassy wetlands to forage in. This Sarus was part of a flock of 45 that landed in this wetland and surrounded us for a fantastic few minutes.

Real estate is serious business in the bird world. On a cloudy and otherwise dull morning, a pair of Sarus landed a few feet ahead of us and proceeded to unison call (photo above), gesture threateningly and finally succeeded in chasing away another pair that had landed in their territory.

(Photographs were taken in Etah district on 28 Aug and 29 Aug 2009 respectively.)

Its clean-up time!

Preen, dip, bathe, and scratch! These are the various ways in which birdies take good care of their precious feathers. Here are a few examples taken during clean-up time!

Preening is so very time-consuming! Here an Indian Skimmer (top) uses its unusual, spectacular beak to comb through feathers, and a Silverbill is busy at it while also showing off the preen gland (just above the tail) from where birds get an "oil" to keep their feathers ship-shape!


A bath can be a serene experience, like the Shikra in the water. Else it can be boisterous with water flying everwhere: for some Comb Ducks, one duck's bathwater is another's drink, apparently!

And finally, the soothing scratch! Here a Silverbill, a Black-necked Stork juvenile, and a Sarus Crane find out the real meaning of the phrase "for every itch, there is a scratch"!

(Photograph information: Skimmer - Etawah district, Apr 9, 2009; Silverbill preening - lucknow, Nov 27, 2008; Shikra - Barabanki, Nov 23, 2008; Comb Duck - Etawah, Apr 9, 2009; Silverbill scratch - Barabanki, Nov 25, 2008; Black-necked Stork - Mainpuri, Apr 7, 2009; Sarus Crane - Etawah, Feb 12, 2009. Thanks to Satish for the scratch-itch phrase!)

The sun, the moon, and the Sarus

Etah is one of the worst towns in Uttar Pradesh, but the district has excellent populations of Sarus Cranes and many other waterbirds. Roadside marshes, village ponds, perennial wetlands, and agriculture fields mesh and merge here to provide a variety of habitats.

I was fortunate to photograph Sarus Cranes in Etah with both the sunrise, and the setting moon. The former was easily possible since most areas I visited for the study in Etah had Sarus Cranes! The latter was a particularly happy and completely accidental occurence. Two Sarus Cranes and some storks were beginning to forage in a roadside marsh just as the moon was setting some time before the sun rose. We happened to pass by enroute to work, and here you are.

(Photo details: top: Apr 2, 2009; bottom: Jan 12, 2009.)

Fiesty Lapwings

Red-wattled Lapwings are fiesty parents - no other word for it! I watched them use two principal devices to protect nests and chicks from potential predators: "Please-eat-me" and "dive-bombing". Adult lapwings with a brood of newly hatched chicks went into conniptions as a female, very mangy Jackal trotted out into the field they were in. The adults - quite amazingly - sat down in front of the Jackal taking to flight only when the Jackal almost caught them. I watched this pair in Rae Bareli (top photo) successfully lead the Jackal away with this please-eat-me technique. Another parent lapwing literally dive-bombed four Sarus Cranes each roughly 10-times its size when they came too close to a nest that was being incubated. For some reason, the chicks of the year recieved most of the violence (bottom photo) with feathers flying when contact was made. This happened in Etawah. (Photograph dates: top - May 20, 2009; bottom - Apr 11, 2009).