Demoiselle Cranes Migrate to Khichan Village, near Jodhpur
I had read up that Demoiselle Cranes migrate to Khichan somewhere near Jodhpur from central Asia. So during our road trip from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur we planned to visit Khichan.
Sighting the Demoiselle Cranes in Khichan, near Jodhpur was a treat to our tired eyes and worth the effort!
The route from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur is dotted with several surprise spots to stop and admire. A tiny village Khichan in Phalodi, 150 kilometers from Jodhpur is one such place.
We were awe struck to see a small water body emerging out of no where in the desert and thousands of Demoiselle Cranes flocking all around it. A rare and least expected sight!
See the red eyes of Demoiselle cranes Khichan village
Demoiselle Cranes Migrate to Khichan
Villagers of this Khichan enjoy a special relationship with the birds. Wiki mentions the story of how one Ratanlal Maloo of Khichan started this feeding activity in 1970s.
Since then, these annual guest from Mongolia and Eurasia follow the same route year after year to settle for winters in this tiny hamlet called Kheechan.
Migratory birds can be seen at many places, but there is something special in Khichan, Rajasthan. The locals of the village offer loads of grains to the birds early morning in a rectangular enclosure every day.
3000kg of birdseed per day I read up later! What started as offering few kilos of grains, the amount has increased to 100,000kg annually. Cost wise it works to 85lakhs per year.
Of course he was helped out by like minded locals, friends in Jain community and various organizations.
Demoiselle Cranes Migrate to Khichan
Locals Care for Migratory Birds
Interestingly their first meal is of stones! Surprised? I too was. I was told this diet of stone help them digest the food. Some day I want to see it to believe it!
After this the cranes fly into specially created rectangular enclosures, at the edge of the village. Locals call them chugga ghar (chugga meaning grains, ghar meaning house). The feeding time is for one and half hours. We couldn’t get closer to the chugga ghar.
A strong fence goes around this feeding house so that stray dogs don’t get access and attack the docile birds.
Feeding process starts very early in the morning. If you arrive at day break here in Khichan you can witness this magical scene – Thousands and thousands of long legged beauties going krok krok over food.
After the meal of food grains they flock around water bodies to quench their thirst. It was around 11 in the morning when I reached Khichan. So what I got to witness was their flocking around the oasis to quench their thirst.
Chugga Ghar – Feeding Home
Locals call these birds – kurja!
The villagers in Thar venerate them for the norm of keeping a single life partner all through their lifetime. Their duets and ballet-like dancing strengthen the bonds between the birds.
Seems like the Atithi Devo Bhava (Guest is God) spirit of the Rajasthanis holds good not just for the human guests ! They follow it for the migratory birds, The Demoiselle Cranes of Khichan too.
Know Migratory Vultures in Rajasthan: Jorbeer Conservation Reserve Bikaner
Migration of Demoiselle Cranes
These Eurasian cranes fly out of the breeding grounds of steppes, cross the mighty Himalayas and start flocking in and around the various water bodies of Khichan.
These birds fly in from August from Central Asia and east Europe to escape the chilling winters there. Peak season is November to March. They spend the relatively warm winter months here.
Demoiselle cranes are the smallest of the crane species. Studies prove they have elaborate communication methods. During their migration they fly almost 200miles per day. The updrafts of warm air, help them to gain elevation and glide great distances.
Karnataka to receives good number of migratory birds.
Read more: Migratory Birds at Kokkarebellur Karnataka
Migratory birds to India
We saw the birds taking a short drink, some bathing while some were acrobatically displaying the affection to their mate. And the krok-krok calls all were an audio-visual treat in the scorching heat of the desert.
These graceful birds find mention in literary works of several authors of Pakistan and North India, particularly in Rajasthani folk songs. Often they are compared with the grace of women or vice versa. Not surprised because their name Demoiselle – is a French word – dameisele – which means damsel or young girl!
Long slender neck with shiny bluish-grey feathers, each bird displayed immense grace. From their eyes in either side of head, ear tufts you may call, there is a white streak of feathers. When seen from a distance you will see several white lines moving, like ripples. I tell you it is hypnotic!
Khichan is declared as a World Heritage Site by the World Crane Foundation. With this status the place attracts lot of curious tourists. There are no great hotel accommodations around. So the best way to see will be doing a road trip to the place.
One lesson to take away from here: Cranes do not recognize political boundaries during migration. Why can’t we humans be like them?
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(This post was first published on Nov 8th, 2008.)
Beautiful captures. Capturing birds is like a game…you keep clicking right?
Nice info Indrani, and beautiful shots too.
awesome post, fantastic shots.
They look surreal, Good post !! xx
Great to know that you have visited Khichan. It is one of the few places where the people protect the wildlife.
Being a Rajasthani I can relate to this post. Beautiful !
Jitendra Mathur
Wonderful pictures, amazing photography.
What beautiful.. elongated graceful.. birds they are! The photography is wonderful.
On close up the red eyes and the water dripping off…amazing!! To be like Thumbelina (I would say a bird but to have the chance to sit and feel the wind blowing my hair and the fluidity of their flight)and fly with them..it seems so effortless!!
Great pictures of the landing and
take-off.
the acrobatism and krok-krok could
be for chiding their mates!!
Beautiful…simply amazing!
Amazing photos. You always share such wonderful things.
Fascinating post and great shots of the birds.
Great photos. I admire these beautiful birds. I love the photos of them in flight.
Thanks for visiting my other blog.
amazing pictures! Very interesting!
Glad you stopped to stare. The cranes may not feel like leaving come summer; the villagers will miss them too!
Awesome! What a treat it must have been to see all of those cranes. I’ve only ever seen geese like this. Great shots.
Wow, this must have been wonderful to see. Gorgeous birds.
Great photos. Love the ones of the birds coming in for a landing. 🙂
These photos are great of cranes I will likely never see in person! Thanks!
What a wonderful series of photos. I love hoe you’ve captured their elegance in flight. That’s something that always eludes me when trying to photograph the herons we have around here all summer. Wonderful post.
Very lovely pictures, especially the one with the cranes flying away from the water. Chinese use crane as symbol of long life.
These are beautiful shots of the birds. Thank you for visiting my CC.
Hi Indrani!
The waterbodies in eastern Rajasthan are said to be water harvesting structures done by Rajendra Singh, called the Waterman of Rajasthan.
He won the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his work in Rajastan’s arid regions…
Nie pictures you have here…
i forget about your photo blog.
will keep visiting that too..
wishes!
devika
Amazing – I can but agree with all the comments. Gattina said elegant – so right whether standing or flying.
Great critter picture. Thanks for stopping in on my site. I am off to look around yours more.
I always enlarge photos and then I can admire them much better. Yours are no exception ! The cranes look very elegant and I enjoyed reading the information you wrote in this post!
These birds look so elegant, and how nice that they get food from the people !
A nice presentation…The fourth foto was simply superb…
Very, very nice post – amazing that they come all the way from Russia, and are treated like honoured guests by the villagers. I am also impresssed that they have only a single partner.
The pictures are great, especially the one of the birds in flight.
Wooah! That’s a lot of cranes. What a sight!
Thanks for sharing.
I have two entries for CC this week!
http://www.twobarkingdogs.wordpress.com
http://www.onevintagephoto.wordpress.com
All dogs, all the time!
What a wonderful post! I really love the bottom photo of the birds in flight… you can actually see the drops of water falling off of their feet. Wow!
lovely pics of the elegantly stylish birds! nice to hear about the bird feeding by the locals too!!
Great, great photos.
These are magnificent looking birds. Also nice to learn and see something new.
wow, truly exceptional shots right there….this place looks inviting. I hope i could be there with a bird-watching guide, listening to those beauties! Demoiselle cranes, eh? Thanks for telling me about them….i’ll check them up on the net! 🙂
Fabulous shots of the cranes you did well in there capturing
Thanks for the stop over
Wonderful story and photos! Hopefully at the end of January I’ll be posting about the sandhill cranes down in southeastern Arizona. Over 20,000 cranes winter there and it’s such a fantastic thing to see.
Wonderful pictures. I’m particularly in awe of the ones of the birds in flight.
Beautiful birds, very elegant. I had never seen cranes like this. The only kind I know are one single colour pink or white. I think I saw them in the zoo and in the South of France. Cranes are not a native bird here.
I knew that the crane is a symbol of health but I did not know that they keep a single partner their whole lifetime. Very interesting!
huge and wondrous loved this Sandy
This post is truly beyond spectacular! WOW – the photos are amazing and I learned about something I never even knew of! Thank you so much for this fantastic post!
That’s a lotta birds! Cool!
I played too 🙂
These are terrific shots! I agree that you got some great shots of them flying.
Wonderful info – thanks for sharing.
Very great these shots… The birds are geants !
Very beautiful post !
I did click to enlarge these photos, and was amazed at the numbers of cranes. I love the ones in flight too
Oh my! those are really fantastic shots! I love them all. Thanks for sharing:) I always look forward to seeing your critters every weekend!