Around the time the country was waking up to the challenge of rising novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, followed by the nationwide lockdown, a common crane (Grus grus) was preparing to depart on a long flight of nearly 5,000 kilometres from Gujarat in India to Kazakhstan in Central Asia. At the tail end of her wintering time in India, just before she took off in March 2020, she tarried a while at a wetland close to the famous Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, a Ramsar site in Gujarat, long enough to be tagged. The sanctuary is one of the largest in India and is one of 37 Ramsar sites in the country. A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty signed in 1971 at Ramsar in Iran.  

“An active GPS device that communicates via the satellite or the GSM network, was fixed just above the knee of the long-legged bird. It is very light and therefore does not hamper the flight of the bird.  And as it is solar charged,  it keeps the transmission going for a long time,” Suresh Kumar, scientist, department of endangered species management, and investigator of the project from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, explained to Gaon Connection. The tag has a unique number and a contact address on it, he added 

So, once the crane was tagged, she flapped her great big wings and took off. “We named her Vadla, after the village in Gujarat where the people are known to be protective about birds. Naming the crane after the village was a way to appreciate their efforts,” said S J Pandit, conservator of forests, Gujarat Forest Department.

The solar-powered GPS (global positioning system) tag on her leg kept track of Vadla’s location and scientists back home received her exact whereabouts every 10 minutes through the GSM (global system for mobile communication) network. This was done to enable a common crane tracking study undertaken by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun, with the support of the Gujarat Forest Department. 

The common crane tracking study is part of a larger project on assessing the impact of power lines on large avian species in the arid plains of western Gujarat. It is funded by the Powergrid Corporation of India Limited. “The study focuses on understanding the risks that the large birds face due to the energy infrastructures, especially power lines and windmills, in this arid landscape of Kutch,” said Anju Baroth, scientist and co-investigator of the project from the Wildlife Institute of India. 

The long haul 

“Vadla’s flight was tracked both ways. The northward journey covering a distance of four-thousand-eight-hundred-and-fifty-kilometre was made in fifteen days, while the return was made in twelve  days covering four-thousand-five-hundred-kilometres,” Kumar, informed Gaon Connection.

Thus, on an average, Vadla flew over 323-km a day while journeying to Kazakhstan, and 375-km a day on her return journey to Gujarat, India. Gujarat is a very important area in the crane migration map, reiterated Kumar. 

Tagging Vadla, who weighed 4.72 kgs, was not easy. After several months of effort, Ghani Bhai and Karsan Bhai, staff at the Nal Sarovar Sanctuary, wrestled the large bird down, on the night of March 12,  mounted the solar-powered GPS-GSM tag, that weighs around 40 gms, on one of her long legs and set her free. The GPS-GSM would collect location data that would help scientists understand the bird’s fine-scale movements, and map her migratory routes. 

According to Kumar, the solar-powered GPS-GSM tag put on Vadla is a smart technology and has provided detailed information on the crane migration. “The tags logged the location of the crane at programmed intervals as in this case every 10 minutes, when it would connect with GPS satellites, store the location and transmit the data through mobile network again at programmed intervals, as in our case at every 12 hours,” he explained. 

Wherever there was no GSM network,  the data was stored in the tag and transmitted when the crane flew into an area where there was network. “The tags have the capacity to store three lakh locations and that is a lot of location data,” he added.  

From Gujarat, India, Vadla flew northwards, over Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and finally reached her destination in Northern Kazakhstan where she spent five months in the border area of Russia and northern Kazakhstan, probably her breeding site (see map).    

When it began to get chilly in Kazakhstan, the tall common crane decided to head back to warmer climes. The data from the tag on Vadla’s leg says she took 12 days for the return trip and she followed the same route. She left Kazakhstan on September 29 and flew over Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, northern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan before entering India. She timed her arrival perfectly as  she made a touchdown exactly where she had taken off from – the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, on World Migratory Bird Day, on October 10. 

Bird habits and habitat 

The common crane that is locally known as kunj in Gujarat, is a winter visitor to India, and usually arrives with thousands more to the arid plains of Western India, especially  in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The wintering cranes forage during the day in the flat lands looking for grass seeds and tubers and also forage in harvested agricultural fields for leftover grains. At night, they congregate in thousands to roost at select wetlands, one of which is the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary and adjoining areas, till the following year when they take wing on their northward migration. 

“Gujarat due to its geographic location and with its unique habitats holds a prominent position in Central Asian Migratory Bird Flyway and is an important wintering destination of several migratory bird species. Along with the common crane, the demoiselle crane also spends its  winters in the state,” Kumar told Gaon Connection.

The Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, that funded the study, claims it has reiterated its commitment to the environment. “The study is an endeavour on our part towards environmental stewardship that emphasizes the need of forging a strong and long lasting association between academia and industries for finding practical and efficient solutions for addressing the pressing needs of society,” said Mahendra Kumar Singh, executive director (environment & social management & CSR), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in a press release.  

While the ornithologist fraternity is celebrating the fact that Vadla made a perfect landing on the World Migratory Bird Day on October 10, it is also planning to get more data on the migratory birds. “We are hoping to tag nine more common cranes from Gujarat over the next few months as part of this project that will help improve our understanding of these long-distance travelers that are truly flagship species of the Central Asian Flyway,” Kumar informed Gaon Connection.