SURUS cranes gather in groups in the fields after summer pad­dy harvest, and according to records, Wakema Township has the highest number of them, said the Kyonekapyin-Tatseik Wildlife Conservation Group.

Surus cranes can be found in groups in some townships in the Ayeyawady delta, mostly in the fields after the summer paddy harvest.

During the rainy season, they separate from the group and live in pairs and a harmoni­ous coexistence between farm­ers and birds can be observed in the fields. They usually build their nests in paddy dykes, silt­ed lands and grasslands to lay eggs in the mid-rainy season.

After the paddy harvest, the chicks began to grow with many challenges and the KTCG recorded 72 bird species in the second census on 16 January, including waterfowls and land birds.

Since 2016, locals have been working together to con­serve birds and in 2018, the KTCG was formed to contin­uously work on bird conserva­tion, said the chairman of the group.

Foreign tourists as well as locals have been visiting the area to study bird species since 2018. — MT/ZN