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Kheechan is a village only 140
kms from Jodhpur near Phalodi. This is unique because about 3 to 4 thousand
Demoiselle Cranes (Anthropoides virgo) visit this place every winter from
September to March.
There are small rain-fed tanks
in the village, which fulfill the Cranes' water requirements in the winter.
The birds stay near these tanks when they are not feeding. The villagers
provide not just protection but food as well. The village has an enclosure
called Chugga-Ghar (Feeding Ground), which is fenced with barbed wire and has
a gate at the entrance. It has a small locked store room in which Jowar is
stored for feeding the Cranes.
An interesting scene can be
seen at about 7 0'clock every morning. Two men viz. Ratanlal Malu and Khet
Singh, start scattering jowar grains on the ground in the Chugga-Ghar. At
about the same time, the D. Cranes, after a night's rest near the village
tanks, start arriving in groups and land in the open space outside the
Chugga-Ghar. After waiting for sometime and making a few reconnaissance
flights over the enclosure,
they start landing inside it. The scattering of Jowar continues and because the cranes have become familiar with the two men,
they continue feeding the grains unmindful of their presence. They even do not
mind the villagers moving around the enclosure. The scattering of grains
take about 45 minutes or so and two bags weighing one quintal each are emptied
during this. After finishing their morning feed the cranes fly back to the
village tanks. A second feed is given at around 4 0'clock in the evening when
only one quintal of jowar is scattered. The grain is shared by the other birds
also e.g. the Blue rock pigeons, Peafowl, Doves & House sparrows etc.
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