Comparison of marshland plant species used as the nesting material by Indian sarus crane (Grus antigone) in Bhopal and Raisen districts of Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

Sarus crane is a marsh nesting bird and uses a variety of plants to build their nests. During the study 84 nests were examined in Bhopal and Raisen districts between 2015 and 2018. Data collected from the observations of nests and the physical characteristics of the respective nesting sites over a period of four years showed that, Sarus crane used local plant species for nest building that are easily available in the vicinity of the nest site. In Bhopal district 21 plant species were used as nesting material and the dominant species recorded were Ipomea aquatica (82.22%), followed by Scripus littoralis (80%) and Typha domingensis (55.56%). However, in Raisen district the Sarus crane used 25 plant species and the most dominant plant was Typha domingensis (51.28%) followed by Ipomea aquatica (51.28%) and Ipomea carnea (46.15%). Other plant materials were used less frequently and were observed in low percentage Valissenaria natans (20.51% in Raisen and 11.2% in Bhopal), Echinochloa colona (28.2% in Raisen and 17.8% in Bhopal), Cyperus rotundus (10.26% in Raisen and 11.12% in Bhopal) and Monoccharia hastata (12.82% in Raisen and 15.56% in Bhopal.