IWN Daily Digest — Sunday, 11 October 2026
Birdwatchers, farmers and forest staff across India are being asked to count the world’s tallest flying bird this weekend, in a survey meant to set a national baseline for a species that has been in decline.
As reported by Down To Earth:
“Sarus Cranes do not recognise administrative boundaries.”
The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has announced the nationwide Sarus crane survey for 10 and 11 October, with 10 October also marked as World Migratory Day. It is inviting State Forest Departments, research institutions, conservation groups, farmers, colleges and universities, and citizen scientists to visit Sarus habitat near them and send in what they see.
“The Sarus is much more than a charismatic bird,” said the BNHS deputy director who heads its Central Asian Flyway Programme.
The aim is a standardised, synchronised dataset that sets a population baseline, picks out strongholds, maps breeding, feeding and roosting sites and flags places where power lines threaten the birds with collision and electrocution. The results are also meant to inform wetland and agricultural conservation policy.
Standing about 1.5 metres tall, the Sarus is the world’s tallest flying bird and the only crane that breeds as a resident in India. It is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, sits under Appendix II of CITES and has Schedule I protection under India’s Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Today it is largely confined to pockets of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, plus isolated areas of Maharashtra.
The species is suspected to have declined by possibly more than 30 to 40 per cent over three generations, while the State of India’s Birds report puts the long-term decline at 76.84 per cent, with the current annual decline at 4.33 per cent a year.
An earlier international assessment estimated India’s population at about 8,000 to 10,000 birds, and Uttar Pradesh reported nearly 20,000 in 2024, though BNHS says the older estimate cannot be directly compared with recent state counts.
Sources: Down To Earth
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