Sunday, June 12 2005 14:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: With the first drops of pre-monsoon showers on Gujarat, a rare congregation of endangered Sarus cranes has been spotted on the outskirts of the city engaged in courtship rituals indicating start of their breeding season.

The spotting is considered to be important for a State, which with a mere 1,800 birds, stands only second in the country after Uttar Pradesh as far as the number of Indian Sarus cranes (Grus Antigone Antigone) is concerned.

"Indian Sarus cranes which are non-migratory are rarely found in large congregations and this pre-monsoon assembly is a very rare sight," said deputy conservator of Forests Uday Vora.

"Usually, they exist in pairs and are scattered over a large area," he said adding "there have been very few instances when these birds were spotted in such large numbers."

About 110 cranes have been sighted in an agricultural field outside the city. "This assembly marks the beginning of the breeding season which will last the entire monsoon—till August," Vora said.

The sighting of Sarus Cranes in large numbers is an indication of the healthy existence of the endangered species in the State and also symbolic because in India, sighting Sarus pairs stands for happy marriage, according to the official.

The long-legged birds with their light grey plumages and red heads were seen engaged in a kind a dance, which the officials described as "courtship display" performed to win over a partner before the mating season.

During the courtship, the cranes were seen engaged in a series of complex and extended series of calls, and the birds stood in specific postures usually with their heads thrown back and beaks skyward.

"In Sarus cranes, the female initiates the display and utters two calls for each male call. All cranes engage in dancing (commonly associated with courtship) which includes various actions like bowing, jumping, running, wing flapping or grass tossing," Vora said.

"Such a large congregation has been seen after a long time," he said adding in the past such large congregation was seen only in Matar taluka of Kheda district which is considered to be the traditional home of these birds.

According to forest department figures, only 120 birds were counted during the sighting of the congregation in Kheda.

"About 1,800 birds were spotted in the State, largely confined to Kheda, Anand and Ahmedabad districts when a census of Sarus cranes were conducted in 2004," he said.

About why Sarus cranes are generally spotted in agricultural fields in the State, Vora said, "The optimal habitat of these omnivorous cranes include a combination of marshes, ponds, fallow lands and cultivated lands."