entry big bird contest titled: all birds are equal but some are more equal than others.

this is the contest we have all been waiting for ever since the small bird theme.
even if you can't join in, please come and hang out with the big birds here:
@nelinoeva/feathered-friends-show-me-a-381efe062cc82

the sarus crane *Antigone antigone *is truly an extraordinary bird. it is the world's largest flying bird . it can reach up to 1.8 meters/5'10" with a wingspan over 2.5 meters/8'. they really stand out with their huge size. their bright red featherless heads and necks contrast their otherwise grey appearance. a closer look reveals long pink legs, an orange eye, a grey ear patch and crown and a long pointed, slightly greenish bill.
Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, India is home to the world's largest population. my wife and i were most fortunate to observe one pair in particular of these magnificent feathered friends there in January a few years ago. cranes in general are well known for their incredible courting dances but that season for sarus cranes is during the summer monsoon so we will have to go back one fine day for that. nonetheless the loyal mates stick together and occasionally when they come particularly close to each other they tilt their heads back with lifted beaks and praise life with the the most glorious sonorous trumpeting imaginable.

these sarus cranes presented here are residents of north india but there are also subspecies in southeast asia and queensland, australia. they are found predominantly in wetland areas sometimes in proximity to humans. very sadly the population is in decline and their range is shrinking due to human activity but in areas where there are irrigation systems for paddy fields the population seems to be stable.

i have taken some liberties in the arrangement of this photo sequence. it doesn't portray exactly how events unfolded that day but i have assembled the images to tell a universal story from a human perspective. there is no need for any text to this story- i am sure you will understand it.

references: https://www.birdsofindia.org/#!/sp/873/Antigone-antigone
https://www.savingcranes.org/species-field-guide/sarus-crane/
all photos are taken by either my wife or myself with our lumix dmc-fz 300 zoomed way out. having one good binocular and one not so powerful as well as one superzoom and one not so powerful, we took turns in the spirit of the unforgettable moment.

this sequence is a unit so i would prefer to not have to choose one single image as the contest entry but if i must it would be this one