What is ornithology?

Ornithology is the scientific study of birds and ornithologists

study every aspect of bird life. Some ornithologists look at how birds live in their environment, while
others look at how the parts of birds work together to make a bird. Some ornithologists focus on how
birds find food, while others focus on how birds digest food. Some ornithologists research changes in
populations of birds across whole continents; others study changes in blood cells in an individual bird.
Ornithologsts sometimes study how birds evolved and what their ancestors looked like, and still others
study how birds are changing in today's environment and how they might be affected by ecological
change in the future.
Siberian Crane
The Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus), also known as the Siberian White Crane or the Snow
Crane, is a critically endangered species of crane. These cranes are found in two groups: the
eastern group, which migrates from eastern Siberia to China, the central group, which migrates from
western Siberia to India.
dult Siberian cranes are !"# cm ($ ft) tall and weight % kg (!& lbs).
'()
Their plumage is pure white,
e*cept for some wing feathers, which are black. The front of the face does not ha+e any feathers
and is reddish in color.
Siberian crane,s distincti+e morphology, +ocali-ation, and feeding
and courtship beha+ior distinguish itself from other crane
species '!.). It also has special habitat re/uirements, e*clusi+ely
using wetlands for nesting, feeding, and roosting '!(). Siberian
cranes are most fre/uently obser+ed wading and probing for food
(tubers of submerged plants, V. spiralis), in shallow (up to &# cm
deep) waters '!(). The long bill and toes, and long serrated beak
of Siberian craneare highly adapted the shallow water
en+ironment speciali-ed for probing tubers.
They have been around for a million years on earth. Perhaps they
were widespread across their breeding grounds in the arctic tundra
of Russia before the advent of humans. Early records (pre-19!"s#
indicate that they were still to be found in poc$ets of %entral &iberia
li$e 'a$utia and (rasnoyars$ till the 19)!"s
y all accounts they mated for life and successfully raised a single chic$ nestled amidst still
unmelted snow which harmonised perfectly with their snowy swan-li$e plumage *1)+ p,9-.
%ome winter they travelled south to escape the onset of harsher conditions and the
declining daylight hours. Their migration was long+ in fact the longest by any crane species
in the world. .n the south lay the warm food-rich plains of the .ndian subcontinent /ust across
the unforgiving altitudes of the high 0imalaya. Perhaps they were not as well-e1uipped as
2ar-headed 3eese to tac$le o4ygen-de5cient high altitudes and found a way to s$irt the high
elevations. 6r+ perhaps+ they needed some hospitable staging points. 7hatever be the
reason+ they charted a route which too$ them over long stretches of populated areas and
denied them the relative safe passage of the uninhabitable 0imalayan ranges 8 a choice that
would ultimately play a catastrophic role on their survival fortunes.
Arctic tern
,)+!!! $m each year that ta$e 9! days each side
Pied Crested Cuckoo
Africa to India
May to October
The American Golden-Plover
($,### miles, " months
9an4 &hearwaters
9an4 &hearwaters migrate over 11+!!! $m to &outh :merica in
winter ; months
Siberian Crane
The migration route stretches for "### miles % months