DEMOISELLE CRANE

The demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo) is a Winter visitor commonly found throughout Northern India, as far as Mysore in South. It is a little greyish crane with a black head and neck and prominent white ear tufts behind the eyes. They arrive in large flocks in about October and return by the end of March. They inhabit open, cultivated country and feed mostly on the tender shoots of wheat, grains and other crops in large flocks. During the heat of the day they retire to rest on the sandbanks of rivers. They fly in broad, V-shaped formations with their necks and legs stretched out. Their call consists of a loud, musical, trumpeting note.