Sarus crane Antigone antigone predating on chicks of grey-headed swamphen Porphyrio poliocephalus

Abstract

Tropical wetlands host diverse breeding birds, but there is little information on aspects such as the predation of chicks. Diet of omnivorous waterbirds is poorly recorded in India, especially during the breeding season when they require to hunt more carnivorous foods to facilitate rapid chick growth. In the present study, we observed a sarus crane pair in western Uttar Pradesh, India, predating on chicks of grey-headed swamphen – not reported earlier in the diet of this species. Review of the literature, search of photographs available on the World Wide Web and consulting experts suggested that chicks of other birds are extremely rare in sarus crane diet. Additionally, the existing literature suggests waterbird chicks as widespread but rare in the diet of cranes globally, though at least one study suspects cranes to be major predators of waterbird chicks. The chicks of other birds seem to be a ready source of nutrition for omnivorous cranes and the rarity of such predation seems worthy of specific studies.