Western Siberian Crane migrates to Eastern Region
By Anastasia Shilina, Yuri Markin and Alexander Sorokin
It was in 2002 that the Siberian Cranes stopped visiting India’s Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur), following no bird left in the Central Population of these birds in Siberian region of Russia. The Eastern Population, breeding in Siberia, is doing all right and its birds annually migrate to down South in China. Their Western Population, was reduced to single digit and only one Sibe reached its wintering destination in Iran during 2020.
When experimentation continued to study birds’ migration
The scientists continued experimenting with captive born Sibes and releasing them in the wild after they were banded as per the protocol. It was to research if the captive born birds would migrate to destinations where their parents or grand-parents had been migrating annually since time immemorial. The hope was that one day, the depleted stock of Western Population would get enriched. And may be the Central Population, gone extinct since 2002, may receive some birds from either of the two Populations (West and East)?
Nearly happening on different frontiers! Wow, as Russian, Mongolian and Chinese scientists expressed over the recent findings.
New discovery elates one and all!
The experts informed the working group on these birds on 20 November 2020:
The Siberian Crane of the Western Population, was recorded having joined the migratory stopover of the Eastern Population of the Siberian Cranes. Means the bird meant to have gone to Iran decided to migrate to China.
This new discovery raises many questions about the relationship of the two populations (Western and Eastern), migration routes, their breeding places, wintering grounds, and throws new light — if the Western Population had started flying in to the flocks of the Eastern Population.
Siberian crane reintroduction programme finally receives success!
The Siberian Crane in question (found in flock of the Eastern population), was marked with a red and green ring on the left leg and a metal ring A 16030 on its right leg. It was released at the age of about 3 months in 2003 in the breeding place of the Siberian Cranes in the Kunovat River basin (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, Russia) in a group of 6 Siberian Cranes.
It has been photographed in China’s Yellow River Delta on 17 October 2020 (see photos published here. the featured image shows the blue band on right leg of Siberian crane (Photo courtesy Hongxing) while the following picture shows the light grey band on left leg of Siberian crane (Photo courtesy Hongxing)
Western population bird joins Eastern population
The officials asked their Mongolian and Chinese colleagues if this ‘numbered’ Sibe was banded by any one of them in the Eastern Population. The answer was no. So the Western Population bird joined the Eastern population. A new discovery much to satisfaction of all those hoping that these birds, one day, may decide to fly to new migration destinations.
Rajasthan’s Forest Officer, Arvind Tomar stated: Probably needs genetic verification whether there is continuing geneflow between different populations.
Meanwhile, EB&W sends congratulations to all Sibe-scientists.