Eternal Attachment of Demoiselle Crane (<i>Anthropoides virgo</i>) to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India

Abstract

The Thar Desert of Rajasthan is a paradise for birds, particularly for the migratory bird Demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo). The plentiful migratory birds of many species are flocking into desert region between the months of September to December from various parts of the world. The Demoiselle crane is the smallest out of 15 crane species found in the world, commonly called Kurjan. The eternal attachment of Demoiselle to Thar Desert is due to their conservation is etched in the religion, faith, culture, and attitude of local people. Every winter, thousands of them flock to Thar Desert of Rajasthan. The Demoiselle crane’s conservation status is “Least Concern” under version 3.1 of IUCN Red List Categories (2012) and the species is listed in Appendix II of CITES. Observations were made in the winter season of every year during 2015 to 2019. These migratory birds were observed in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan state of India. This paper summarizes on the population status of Demoiselle cranes at different locations of western Rajasthan along with their percentage time spent on different habitats for roosting and feeding.