Sarus Crane

The Sarus Crane is a occupant breeding bird in northern India, Nepal, Southeast Asia and Queensland, Australia. It used to be found on occasion in pakistan, but has not been found sience the late 1980's. It is the world's tallest flying bird.

This is an extremely big crane, 156cm in length, which is found in freshwater marshes and plains. It nests on the ground laying two to three eggs in a large nest. Unlike many cranes that make long migrations the sarus crane does not, meaning it cans expent the energy to raise both chicks. Both the male and female take turns sitting on the nest, and the male is the main guardian.

Adults are grey with a nude red head and white crown and a long dark sharp bill. In flight, the long neck is kept in a straight line, unlike herons, and the black wing tips can be seen; their long red or pink legs trail at the back them.

Sexes are similar, but little birds are duller and browner. The Indian, Southeast Asian and Australian subspecies is different mainly in plumage shade. There are some slight size differences, but on average the male is larger then the female, and the birds are six feet tall with an eight foot wingspan.

These sociable birds forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes inquisitive with their long bills. They are omnivorous, eating insects, aquatic plants and animals, crustaceans, seeds and berries, small vertebrates, and invertebrates.

The Indian population is about 10,000 birds, and the Australian population of 5,000 birds may be rising, but the Southeast Asian subspecies has been decimated by war and home obliteration.
In Australia, the Sarus can with no trouble be incorrect for the Brolga. The Brolga has a more extensive distribution across the country, and its red coloring is limited to the head. However the brogla and sarus are genetically completely different and the natives of astrillia were aware that they were two different types of bird’s referring to the sarus as the brogla who’s curved in its head in blood.