Demoiselle Crane

Latin Name: 
Grus virgo
Category: 
Size: 
75cm
Description: 

Sexes alike. Overall plumage grey; black head and neck; prominent white ear tufts; long black feathers of lower neck fall over breast; brownish- grey secondaries sickle-shaped and drooping over tail. Young birds have grey head and much shorter drooping secondaries over tail than adults. Huge flocks in winter, often many thousands; feeds early mornings and early evenings in cultivation; rests during hot hours on marsh edges and sandbanks; flies en masse when disturbed.

Habitat: 
winter crop fields, sandy riverbanks, ponds, jheel edges.
Food: 
wheat, paddy, gram; does extensive damage to winter crops.
Distribution: 
winter visitor; most common in NW India and over E Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, though sporadically over much of the area.
Call: 
Call Description: 
high-pitched, sonorous kraak…kraak… calls.
National Status: