Cranes – fascinating and vulnerable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crowned cranes, subfamily Balearicinae, which today contains 2 species in the genus Balearica, split out from the true cranes, subfamily Gruinae, as far back as about 10 million years ago. The family has members in most of the world, only absent from South America, Indonesia, Oceania, Antarctica, Greenland, and Madagascar.

 

Male and female look similar, although males tend to be a little larger than females. The body of most species is grey or white, a few also have black or brown parts in their plumage, and they almost all have black primaries. The inner secondaries and their coverts are prolonged and curled in most of the species, hanging veil-like over their tail. The inner secondaries of wattled crane, demoiselle crane (Grus virgo), and blue crane (Grus paradisea) are long-pointed, and in the blue crane they are so long, that they touch the ground when the bird is walking. Newly hatched chicks are brown, yellowish, or reddish, and immature birds resemble brownish editions of adult birds.

The head of cranes are very characteristic, almost all species having naked red parts on the crown or in the face, in a few cases also on the neck. The wattled crane has naked red skin with a lot of warts above the bill, and below the chin it has red-and-white, partly feathered wattles. Only demoiselle and blue cranes have completely feathered heads. On the hindneck, these two species have a crest, which is raised when the birds dance. The two crowned cranes (Balearica) have a bushy, straw-coloured crest on the hindneck, naked white and red skin on the cheeks, and a red wattle under the chin.

As opposed to herons, cranes fly with their neck stretched out, and during flight they call almost incessantly. Most species moult all primaries and secondaries simultaneously, which means that they cannot fly for several weeks. The innermost toe has a sharp claw, used as defence and during dominance fights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The windpipe of Grus species is very long, lying in a double bow inside the hollow breast bone. The rings of the windpipe are attached to the breast bone, forming thin plates. When the crane is calling, these plates vibrate, forming the powerful sounds. With a windpipe up to 1.5 m long, the whooping crane (Grus americana) has the most powerful call of all cranes. The waves of the windpipe of wattled, demoiselle, and blue cranes are rather short, and the call of these species is weaker than in other Grus species. The call of the Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) is a whistle-like trill. Most species also emit various guttural sounds. The windpipe of the crowned cranes is much shorter than that of all other cranes, and has no waves. These birds have goose-like calls.

Cranes are famous for performing spectacular dances, accompanied by loud trumpeting. Crane dance may occur year-round, but is most common in spring, when new pairs are formed. The dance also strengthens the bond between the sexes of established pairs which stay together their entire lives. The birds circle eachother, bow, spread their wings, and perform graceful, up to 1 m high jumps. They often throw twigs, straw, and the like into the air, attempting to catch them again. During the dance, crowned cranes shake their heads, making the large bushy crest prove its worth. Crane dance often ends with a so-called unison call, i.e. female and male call simultaneously.

The sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), and to a lesser degree common crane (Grus grus) and Siberian crane, ’dust-bathe’, making part of the plumage brownish. This ‘bathing’ adds improved camouflage to sandhill and common cranes, but the Siberian crane is only scantily coloured by it, and it has been assumed that the behaviour is a remnant of an ancient behaviour of the ancestor of cranes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cranes breed in marshes and lakes, along rivers, or in grasslands, most often placing the nest on the ground in an inaccessible swamp. Some species, including the wattled crane, often build the nest, completely surrounded by water up to 1 m deep. In many cases, the nest from the previous breeding season is used, and wattled crane and grey crowned crane occasionally breed in abandoned nests of other birds. Once in a while, crowned cranes breed in trees.

The nest varies from a scraped hollowness in the ground, which is the case with demoiselle and blue cranes, to a huge construction af plants, up to 50 cm high and 2 m wide. Of unknown reasons, demoiselle and blue cranes sometimes line the nest with pebbles.

Most crane species lay two eggs, sometimes one or three, the wattled crane usually only one. The incubation period is 27-32 days for smaller species, up to 36 days for the larger. It begins when the first egg has been laid, and both sexes incubate. The chicks usually leave the nest a day or two after hatching, and the first few days they are fed by the parents. In this period, the chicks of most species stay in the vicinity of the nest, in which they often spend the night. But already after about 12 hours, chicks of the blue crane follow their parents on feeding trips into grasslands.

Eggs and young are a coveted prey of many animals, including lynx, foxes,, jackals, eagles, crows, owls, and others. The young fledge after 60-100 days, dependent on species, and stay with their parents for 10-20 months. Immature birds breed for the first time when they are 2 years old (smaller species), or 4-6 years (larger species).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cranes also readily eat corn procucts, potatoes, carrots, and olives, and larger flocks may do considerable damage on crops. In some countries, including Canada, the state pays compensation to farmers, whose crops are damaged by crane flocks.

 

 

 

 

 

Brolga crane (Antigone rubicunda), sarus crane, wattled crane, blue crane, and the two crowned cranes are resident, but outside the breeding season they roam about, seaching for areas in which rain has fallen recently. Southern populations of the sandhill crane are also resident.

 

 

 

 

 

The large birds also occur in folk medicine. German Benedictine nun, writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and herbal doctor Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) writes that crane blood is beneficial for women giving birth, and it is even better to tie a crane claw in a string around the waist – but it must be from the right foot. In 1832, an author named Philipp writes that crane fat may cure deafness. In his work Ornithologia danica, Danmarks Fugle (1847-52), Danish ornithologist Niels Kjærbølling (1806-71) writes that soup cooked with crane meat is an excellent tonic.

 

 

 

 

 

Today, almost all crane species are protected by law, but nevertheless several species are declining, the largest threats being habitat destruction in their breeding, resting, and wintering areas, including draining of wetlands, farming, construction of dams, and urbanization. Some species are persecuted as pests when they – as a result of their natural habitats being destroyed – begin feeding on crops. By feeding on sprayed crops the cranes may be subject to poisoning from chemical pesticides. In densely populated areas, many cranes die from colliding with power lines. Hunting is still a threat in some countries, including Sudan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Many crane species have become very rare, and several are in danger of extinction. Several groups and societies are working to try to save the cranes. The IUCN SSC Crane Specialist Group is the core of the World Working Group on Cranes, established in 1970, and today having 247 members from 56 countries. The International Crane Foundation in the United States publishes a quarterly journal named The ICF Bugle, which contains news about crane research and protection.

In international crane conferences and symposia, representatives from the various participating countries exchange experience, and establish co-projects and protection initiatives, including surveying cranes and their habitats; re-establishing drained wetlands suitable for cranes; training staff in crane reservations; informing local people about cranes; and breeding cranes in captivity to be released in natural habitats when conditions are favourable.

 

 

 

 

 

In Europe, Africa, and Australia, cranes are depicted in prehistoric rock paintings, and in graves of Ancient Egypt, common cranes, demoiselle cranes, and Siberian cranes have been depicted in paintings and reliefs. In south-western North America, cranes began appearing in rock paintings and carvings, and in ceramics, from around 900 A.D.

In Greek mythology, Gerana was queen of the Pygmies, a very beautiful, but graceless girl who only had contempt for the goddess Hera. She married Nicodamas, and they had a son, to whom the Pygmies brought many gifts. Hera, however, who was furious that Gerana would not worship her, elongated her neck and turned her into a crane (in Ancient Greek geranos). Gerana now flew from roof to roof to be close to her child, but the Pygmies chased her away, and in this way a war between the Pygmies and the cranes arose.

Likewise in Greek mythology, the god Mercury was inspired by flying cranes to invent the Greek alphabet. Greeks depicted cranes with singer and poet Orpheus, and with Muses playing music. Flutes were made from shin bones of cranes. On the island Delos, a special crane dance was performed, and afterwards a wreath was placed on a statue of the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite. Movements of the crane were also imitated in tribal dances, performed by peoples of Africa, Australia, Siberia, and China.

Crane clans are known from the Hopi and Zuni peoples in south-western United States, and cranes were a totem animal for Australian aboriginals and for the Anishinabe people in North America. Young men from the Crow and Cheyenne tribes would blow in flutes, made from wing bones of sandhill cranes, before they went to battle.

In the Oriental art of painting, cranes are a very popular subject, and formerly they were a symbol of happiness, a long life, and good fortune in your marriage.

Origami is an Oriental art form, in which paper is folded to form figures. Following the nuclear destruction of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thousands of paper cranes were folded by Japanese school children, symbolizing peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, they were very poor, and to increase their income, the wife wove a fine table cloth in white silk, which they sold to a rich man. He liked it very much and ordered another one. The wife then told her husband, ”Yes, I will weave another one, but you must promise not to look at me while I am weaving.”

The farmer agreed to this, but his curiosity became unbearable, so he peeped through a crack in the wall. He then saw that it was not his wife sitting at the loom, but a large crane. Horrified, he screamed, and his wife understood that he had been spying on her. She said, ”You tended me, and I became your wife as a token of my gratitude. But now you have seen me in my true form, and I must leave you.”

She went into the yard, spread her wings, and took flight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name refers to the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. It is derived from grui Balearicae (‘the Balearic crane’), mentioned by Roman philosopher and naturalist Pliny the Elder (c. 23-79 A.D.). It is not known to which species Pliny referred, or even if it was a type of crane, although the demoiselle crane (Grus virgo) formerly occurred in Spain, and still migrates through the Nile Valley. It is possible that the black crowned crane bred in the Nile delta or the marshes of Tunisia in classical times. (Jobling, 2010)

Pliny’s life is described on the page People: Famous naturalists.

 

It lives in savannas, along rivers, and in some places in wetlands in agricultural areas. It is resident, but roams about in search of areas where rain has fallen lately. As opposed to other cranes, crowned cranes often spend the night in trees.

Formerly, the black crowned crane was common, but has declined drastically since the 1970s due to drought, overgrazing, construction of dams, draining and farming of wetlands, and persecution from people because of crop damage, or for consumption. The civil war in Sudan, which is still ongoing, has also taken its toll of cranes.

Estimates vary, but there may be as few as 40,000 birds, mainly in the large swamp areas of Chad and Sudan. The West African populations are threatened with extinction.

The specific name is derieved from the Latin pavo (‘peacock’), thus ‘peacock-like’, presumably referring to the crest.

 

 

 

 

 

It lives in savanna and river valleys, and also sometimes in agricultural land, provided there are accessible wetlands. Traditionally, some tribes have regarded this bird as sacred, and in many places it has adapted to living near people. It is mainly sedentary, but moves around in search of areas with recent precipitation. It often spends the night in trees.

During the last 50 years or so, this species has declined drastically, and the total population may now be as low as 25-30,000, with two thirds of this number in East Africa. The decline is caused by draining, conversion of savanna to agricultural lands, and lack of flooding due to construction of dams. East African populations are classified as near-threatened, whereas the South African population is stable.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘royal’, derived from regis (‘king’), of course alluding to the prominent crest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Greek mythology, Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus, who unwittingly killed his father Laius, king of Thebes, and married the widow, his mother Jocasta. When Jocasta learned the truth of their relationship, she hanged herself, and Oedipus, according to one version of the story, went into exile after blinding himself, accompanied by his daughters Antigone and Ismene.

 

Even though the Indians for religious reasons leave the large birds alone, it declined drastically here for a number of years due to draining, increased cultivation, urban development, induatrial pollution, and increased usage of pesticides. In Indochina, it is threatened by draining, building of dams, overgrazing, poaching, and illegal collecting of eggs. The prolonged wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia also took its toll of cranes. In Australia, threats include draining and grazing by cattle.

Today, it is estimated that the total global population is 15-20,000, of which 8-10,000 are found in northern India and southern Nepal, where it is now slowly recovering due to increased protection.

It is resident, but outside the breeding season it disperses to areas with abundant rainfall. The two eastern subspecies are found in wetlands, and outside the breeding season also in grasslands and farmland. The Indian subspecies is used to people and may nest in very small wetlands in agricultural areas.

In Hindu mythology, the goddess Baglamukhi has the head of a crane. She is a master of black magic and all sorts of killing with poisons. When you bring offerings to her, you gain resistance to your sorrows.

A legend relates that the Sanskrit poet Valmiki observed a hunter killing a sarus crane. Its mate refused to leave its dead mate, so the hunter killed that one, too. This incident inspired Valmiki to write the great Hindu epos Ramayana, which describes fidelity and honour. (More about this issue on the pages Religion: Hinduism, and Animals – Mammals: Monkeys and apes.)

In India, it is said that when the sarus cranes flock, it is a sign of the imminent monsoon rains. As cranes pair for life, the sarus crane is also a symbol of a happy marriage.

The common name is the Hindi name for the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the rays of the rising sun begin to penetrate the morning mist, the birds take shape, and a fantastic scenery unrolls in front of us. In the shallow waters of the river, about 50,000 cranes are standing, shoulder by shoulder. Their trumpeting now intensifies, and the birds begin to shift restlessly, a few performing their graceful dance.

Then, with an incredible crescendo of trumpeting, the birds take flight, flock after flock heading for the surrounding maize fields, where they eat waste kernels, left over from the harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species, to 1.2 m tall, is the most numerous crane species in the world, numbering more than 1.2 million, and the population is still increasing, undoubtedly because the cranes have easy access to waste maize. The name sandhill crane refers to the Sandhills Region in Nebraska, where this bird is numerous in spring (see previous caption).

Today, 5 subspecies are recognized. By far the most abundant subspecies is canadensis, which breeds in northern Canada, Alaska, and the eastern half of Siberia. In southern Canada, and northern and western United States, subspecies tabida is found. The 3 southern subspecies are sedentary, pratensis in Florida and the southernmost part of Georgia, pulla, which is restricted to the south-eastern corner of Mississippi, and finally nesiotes, which is restricted to Cuba. A sixth subspecies, rowani, is no longer accepted.

The two northern subspecies breed in wetlands in tundra and prairies. They spend the winter in south-western United States and northern Mexico, where they mainly feed in agricultural areas. Most of the Siberian birds also migrate to America, but a few winter in China. The southern subspecies are resident, breeding in wetlands in grasslands, often with growths of palms or pines. The populations in Mississippi and Cuba are very small and threatened with extinction.

In former days, the cranes would roost in many prairie rivers, but the majority of these rivers are today regulated by dams, causing most of the sandbars, on which the birds roost, to be either submerged, or covered in dense vegetation, such as willows, because the sandbars are no longer inundated by spring flooding. Along the Platte River in Nebraska, much work is done to clear these thickets.

Numbers of sandhill cranes are increasing in the major part of the distribution area, which is undoubtedly caused by easy access to nutritious maize kernels from the previous harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In later years, several Siberian wader species have declined drastically, mainly due to habitat destruction on their flyways between breeding and wintering grounds. In China, Korea, and Vietnam, huge areas of coastal shallow waters have been converted into shrimp farms, salt pans, or fields – areas, which the migrating waders were dependent on for fattening up, before continuing to their breeding grounds.

Many waders are now in a poor condition, causing them to produce fewer young – or they simply skip breeding. Thus, production of chicks has plummeted in many species, and one species, the spoon-billed sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus), is critically endangered, with less than 100 breeding pairs.

Under these circumstances, marauding sandhill cranes really make a difference, and they have become a threat to Siberian breeding waders, whose young they readily eat.

 

 

 

 

 

It is quite peculiar that the birds in north-eastern Australia in the dry season mainly feed on the rhizomes of one plant species, the water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), locally called bulkuru. At other times of the year, the diet is more varied, like with the southern populations. The brolga crane is the only crane species that is able feed in saltwater, and near the eyes it has glands which exude surplus salt.

Populations have not been counted, but the total number is estimated at over 50,000. in many areas, the species is declining due to draining, construction of dams, intensified cultivation, and overgrazing, and the south-eastern populations declined drastically in the 1900s. Feral pigs have begun to compete with the cranes by eating the bulkuru rhizomes. The population in New Guinea is small and scattered, and it not known whether it is stable or not. On the whole, the species is classified as vulnerable, the south-eastern populations as threatened.

An aboriginal myth relates that a young woman named Brolga was a fabulous dancer. The evil spirit Waiwera saw her dancing and decided to abduct her. He changed into a whirlwind, enveloped Brolga, and took her away. The men in the tribe pursued them, but Waiwera disappeared into the sky with the young woman. Now a large grey bird emerged from the scrubland and began dancing like Brolga. Waiwera had abducted her, but her dance remained in the crane’s dance.

A folk name of the bird is ‘companion of aboriginals’, as a brolga chick, which has been reared by aboriginals, will often follow its foster father like a dog.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ruddy’ or ‘reddish’, derived from rubere (‘to turn red’), naturally alluding to the reddish head of the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

This species declined drastically in the first half of the 1900s due to draining and hunting, and also the effect of World War II and the Chinese civil war. Since then, the population has been slowly increasing, and as of 2025, it was estimated to be around 13,000. However, it may decline again, in the breeding areas due to draining, intensified farming, cattle grazing, fires, pesticides, and construction of dams on the Amur River, and in its Chinese wintering area due to the huge Three Gorges dam project on the Yangtze River. The artificial feeding of it on Kyushu could threaten it in case of eruption of diseases.

The specific name is a Balearic term for a type of edible crane.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is onomatopoetic, referring to the loud trumpeting call of cranes.

 

It has been estimated that prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the population counted at least 10,000 individuals. It steadily declined, and in the late 1800s fewer than 1,500 remained. The species was still regarded as a pest, and the population declined drastically. By 1938, only about 20 individuals remained. After World War II, a conservation campaign was initiated to persuade hunters and farmers not to shoot the magnificent birds.

In 1954, the last remaining breeding place of the whooping crane was found in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, and an intensive research program began. An egg was taken from nests with two eggs. (This could be done without hesitation, as only one young survives from each nest.) The collected eggs were incubated artificially, and the young were kept for a breeding program. The only known wintering area, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, was already protected. The population of cranes slowly increased, and in 1969 there were 68 birds.

Between 1975 and 1988, 380 whooping crane eggs were placed in nests of sandhill cranes in Idaho. But although 38 young made it to adulthood, they were behaving like sandhill cranes, and no young were produced in the flock. The experiment was stopped.

Since 1993, several hundred birds raised in captivity have been released in Florida, with the hope of creating a local population of resident birds. By 2003, 95 had survived, and since 2000 a few young have made it to adulthood. The problem is that bobcats (Lynx rufus) and other carnivores eat the young. In 2018, the wild population here was only 14 individuals, while 163 were kept in captivity. As of 2025, hope was given up that the population would survive.

In 2001 and 2002, altogether 21 young whooping cranes, reared in Wisconsin, were trained to follow an ultralight plane, and in the autumn they followed the plane to Florida. This population, numbering 90 in 2007, now migrate on their own between Wisconsin and the southern states of Florida, Indiana, Alabama, Illinois, and Kentucky. However, the number had decreased to 70 birds by 2025.

In 2011, a new population was established in south-western Louisiana from 10 young birds, reared in captivity. In 2025, this flock counted 83 birds.

On the whole, the effort has been a succes. In 2008, the total population of whooping cranes was 270 birds, increasing to 911 in 2020.

This magnificent bird was saved in the nick of time, but it is still the rarest crane species in the world, threatened by inbreeding, draining programs, and collisions with high-voltage wires. In Aransas, the most important wintering area, a new road has stopped the inflow of water from the rivers. This has caused the population of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), which constitutes the most important food item for the cranes, to decline. Oil drilling is taking place in the vicinity, and a few times petro-chemical products from trucks have been seeping into the area, polluting it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wattled crane is almost exclusively found in wetlands, being most numerous in the vast wetlands along rivers in Zambia and Botswana. It is resident, but moves about to areas with recent rainfall. Outside the breeding season, Ethiopian birds may be encountered in grasslands. This species usually lays only one egg and has a very slow reproduction rate. It doesn’t breed every year, only when ample rain has fallen. For this reason, dams have a huge negative effect on its reproduction.

The total population may be as low as 9000 individuals, and almost everywhere it is steadily declining due to draining, dam construction, fires, and human settlement around wetlands. In South Africa, it has almost disappeared.

The specific name is derived from the Latin caruncula (‘a small piece of flesh’), diminutive of carnis (‘flesh’), alluding to the red wattles under the bill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly, the rising sun adds a violet tinge to the landscape, then red, and later yellow. Far away in the mist you now hear loud trumpeting calls, and the first small flocks of cranes pass over the swamps to land on the fields at Bjurum. They walk around a bit, and then begins to dance. Male and female circle eachother, throw twigs and straw into the air, bend their head and neck towards the ground, perform jumps, to about 1 m high, and spread out their wings, letting them hang almost to the ground, while emitting ear-splitting calls.

This area has been acquired by Svenska Naturskyddsföreningen (the Swedish Nature Conservation Society), and potatoes and corn is cultivated to feed the cranes. The project is a huge success, and up towards 25,000 cranes make a stop here in March-April on their way to the breeding grounds in northern Scandinavia, Finland, and Russia. Several thousand bird watchers travel to this place every spring to watch the crane dance.

In 2006, I rented a blind at Lake Hornborgasjön for a 24-hour period, and I was able to watch cranes and other birds at close quarters. In the evening, the cranes took off while emitting an incredible crescendo of calls, to fly to their night roost in the swamps around the lake, only to return shortly after dawn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a total population of nearly 700,000, the Eurasian crane is one of the most numerous crane species, only surpassed by the sandhill crane. It is by far commonest in Siberia, but in later years breeding numbers have increased dramatically in Europe, including Sweden and Finland, both with around 30,000 pairs, Poland with about 20,000 pairs, Germany with about 10,000 pairs, and Denmark with about 500 pairs. The total European population is estimated at more than 115,000 pairs.

The rising numbers in Europe are probably caused by decreased hunting activity, combined with large amounts of very nutritious waste maize on the fields, which now constitutes a significant part of its food. In the other parts of its distribution area, it is slightly decreasing due to draining, building of dams, increased cultivation, mercury pollution, oil drilling, hunting, and persecution due to crop damage. The relict population of subspecies archibaldi in Turkey and the Caucasus counts less than 100 pairs and is thus severely threatened.

The common crane usually breeds in larger wetlands, but in Europe it has adapted to smaller marshes. The western populations spend the winter in the Iberian Peninsula, France, north-western Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Iran, whereas eastern populations winter in northern India and eastern China. In winter, it forms flocks counting several thousand, feeding in meadows and farmland, and along rivers. Birds in the Iberian Peninsula may also be encountered in woods of holm oak (Quercus ilex), whose acorns they eat.

 

 

 

 

 

The populations decreased catastrophically during World War II and the Chinese civil war, and in 1962 there were only around 200 pairs. Since then, numbers have increased steadily, and today there are a about 4500 individuals. The conservation of cranes on Hokkaido has been a huge success, numbers growing from about 20 birds in 1924 to c. 2000 in 2025. They are fed in winter on this island.

The continental population is still threatened by lumbering, draining, increased farming, cattle grazing, fires, construction of dams, and urbanization. Threats on Hokkaido include urbanization, road construction, and collision with power lines. The number of deaths due to collisions have decreased dramatically, as many wires are now marked with bird flight diverters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following World War II, the population may have been as low as 1000, but then began increasing steadily, and today there may be as many as around 19,000 individuals. However, it is still vulnerable, in the breeding areas threatened by draining, mining, and lumbering, in the wintering areas by draining, construction of dams, urbanization, and collision with power lines. In Japan, a potential danger is disease in the feeding areas.

The specific name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek monakhos (‘monk’), referring to the cap-like marking on forehead and crown.

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally, Tibetans and Indians have protected these cranes for religious reasons, and in some areas it breeds near villages. In winter, the birds migrate to less harsh areas of southern Tibet and the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan, and also a few hundred to Assam and Bhutan. Here they often feed in farmland.

From the 1950s, the population decreased seriously, in the breeding areas due to draining, intensified grazing of sheep and goats, and industrial pollution, in the wintering areas draining, construction of dams, overgrazing, pollution, and poaching. In later years it has increased due to better protection measures, and the population is estimated at around 17,000 birds. However, it is still classified as vulnerable.

The specific name is derived from the Latin niger (‘black’) and collum (‘neck’).

My encounter with this stately bird is related on the page Travel episodes – China 2009: Among black-necked cranes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has a very limited distribution area, being restricted to southern and eastern South Africa, and a small isolated population in Etosha National Park, northern Namibia. It lives in dry grasslands, breeding and roosting in wetlands. A few places, it breeds in agricultural lands. It is mainly resident, but moves about in seach of areas with recent rainfall.

Formerly, the blue crane was common, but declined drastically in the period 1980-2000, mostly due to persecution with poisons, as it was consuming crops, and also due to cultivation of former grasslands, urbanization, and collision with power lines. An information campaign has caused the population to increase, today numbering about 35,000 individuals.

Previously, the isolated population in Etosha National Park comprised about 150 birds, but has since declined drastically. In 2025, only about 30 birds remained.

It is the national bird of South Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

This name was later adopted by the English. In his 3-volume work A natural history of birds: illustrated with a hundred and one copper plates, curiously engraven from the life (1731-1738), English naturalist and illustrator Eleazar Albin (c. 1690-1742) writes: “This Bird is called Demoiselles by reason of certain ways of acting that it has, wherein it seems to imitate the Gestures of a Woman who affects a Grace in her Walking, Obeisances, and Dancing. This resemblance must be thought to have some reasonable Ground, seeing that for above two thousand Years the Authors who have treated of this Bird have designed it by this Particularity of the Imitation of the Gestures and Behaviour of Men. Aristotle gives to it the Name of Actor or Comedian.” (Jobling, 2010)

The demoiselle crane lives on steppes with scattered wetlands, but may also be found in stony plains and deserts, as long as it has access to water. Occasionally, it breeds in farmland. It is distributed in a belt from Ukraine through Kazakhstan to Mongolia and north-eastern China. There is a tiny population in Turkey, and previously it was also found in Morocco where it is now extinct. It has also formerly bred in Romania.

It is a migrant, western populations wintering in north-eastern Africa, from Sudan and Ethiopia westwards to Chad and eastern Nigeria, whereas the East Asian populations migrate along the valleys of the Himalaya in autumn, spending the winter in India, where it occurs in flocks counting thousands. In the wintering quarters, it often feeds in farmland. In Gujarat and Rajasthan, north-western India, the birds are fed with wheat, donated by rich Jain traders. (Jainism is described on the page Religion: Jainism).

The demoiselle crane is a common species, altogether counting around 250,000. On the whole, it is increasing, even though some populations decline a little due to draining, overgrazing, increased farming, urban development, poisoning by pesticides, and hunting. About 5000 demoiselle cranes and common cranes are shot every year for human consumption during the migration through Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the wintering areas, some birds are shot due to crop damage. The species is classified as vulnerable, and populations in Ukraine and Turkey are threatened.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘virgin’, again alluding to the grace of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the sun breaks through the mist, and the Siberian cranes start dancing. They perform high jumps around each other, bend their head towards the water while calling, and beat their wings, their black primaries contrasting starkly to their white body. The large sarus cranes nearby are not affected by the dance of the Siberian cranes. Their own dance is mainly performed in March-April.

 

This bird, which is restricted to wetlands, was formerly widely distributed in northern Siberia, but has been declining drastically since the 1800s. The eastern population, counting 3500-3800 individuals, predominantly breeds in the Yakutia Republic and a little further eastwards. It is wintering at the Yangtze River in China, 98% in Lake Poyang. A part of this lake is protected, but is threatened by a collection of huge dams, Three Gorges, which now control the annual inundations of the lake area. Other threats include mercury poisoning and oil drilling in Siberia.

The central and western Siberian populations, which once bred along the Ob River, are now extinct. The western population spent the winter in Iran, in the southern end of the Caspian Sea. In the 1990s, up to 10 birds were still present here, but the number dwindled to 4 in 2002, and since 2010 just a single male, which was last seen in 2023.

The central population spent the winter in northern India. In Keoladeo National Park, up to around 200 birds were still found here until the 1960s, but the number was declining alarmingly, and in the 1970s only about 75 birds remained.

The International Crane Foundation attempted to save this population by placing eggs of Siberian cranes in nests of common cranes, which would then rear the young. But numbers still declined in Keoladeo, counting just 4 individuals in 1996, and the last observation was in 2002. The birds were shot for human consumption during the migration through Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Keoladeo, attempts have been made to hatch eggs of Siberian cranes in nests of sarus cranes, but the young were imprinted on their foster parents and stayed with them year-round in the area.

In Ancient times, the Siberian crane was wintering as far west as Egypt. A relief from Saqqara, which is now in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, depicts 6 Siberian cranes, and there is also a picture depicting a Siberian crane in Senet’s grave from the 12th dynasty (1991-1785 B.C.). A Siberian crane is mentioned in a text, written by Egyptian author an-Nuwayri (1279-1332 A.D.).

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and geranos, the classical Greek word for crane.