The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Gujarat Forest Department satellite-tagged four common cranes earlier this year at the Thol and Nal Sarovar Ramsar sites in south-western Siberia. A Wildlife Institute of India research team tracked the migration of common cranes.
The birds, named Bhal, Nal, Sanand, and Gani, are currently residing in the Omsk and Tyumen oblasts. The cranes have been GPS tagged for the second time by the WII team. Previously, a crane named Vadla was tracked for both spring and autumn migration in 2020.
The four common cranes tagged this year took the same route as Vadla during their spring migration. The birds flew through Kutch, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan before arriving in Russia to breed.
The WII team has tracked common cranes in order to better understand how they use the arid landscape of western India during the winter season. The project also seeks to comprehend crane migration routes and stopover locations. It will also reveal various breeding sites for common cranes that visit India in search of wintering grounds. Gujarat is one of the most popular winter vacation spots in the Indian subcontinent.
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