Common crane

Common cranes are large birds which live in wetland habitats and the only crane found in Europe. Like other cranes, they have been a symbol of long life in Japanese mythology for many years because it was believed cranes lived for 1,000 years.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Gruiformes

Family: Gruidae

Genus: Grus

Species: Grus

Common cranes are three and a half to four feet (around one meter) tall and weigh ten to fifteen pounds (four to seven kilograms). Their wing spans are seven to eight feet (two to two and half meters). Their plumage, or feathering, is gray except for their dark wing tips and throats and the white patches on their cheeks and necks. Small red patches sit atop the crowns of their heads. Their tail feathers are long and bushy. Juvenile birds have yellowish-brown plumage and short tail feathers. Adults molt, or shed, their plumage each year in summer, and every two years they molt all their flight feathers and are unable to fly for five to six weeks.

Wetland and grassland habitats are the most suitable places for common cranes. Even though they do not have webbed feet and only wade in shallow water, they are still considered aquatic, or water, birds. In these habitats the cranes eat almost anything they can find on land or in the water. Their diets chiefly consist of grasses, herbs, and crops. During the fall and winter, they forage for grains and nuts when these foods are abundant. When summer arrives, they are able to add a greater variety to their diets through frogs, snakes, snails, lizards, spiders, earthworms, slowworms, woodlice, rodents, and other small mammals. Sometimes they may catch fish or prey upon the eggs and young of small birds. Most food enters their long bills while the cranes are standing in shallow water near the banks. From this position, they are able to feed from both land and water. Unless it is mating season, common cranes are social birds and form flocks of up to 400 birds. However, when scouting for food they will travel in small groups while other cranes keep watch for danger or predators.

Common cranes may cover themselves with mud or vegetation when it is on its nest. This provides some camouflage from predators, such as large mammals.

The months of April, May, and June are the common crane's mating season. A male and female common crane mate for more than one year and often mate for life. The cranes are famous for their characteristic mating dance which newly-paired birds may perform before mating. Apparently, older birds do not often perform the dance. After the pair claims its territory in the wetland, they begin their dance. They fan their wings and leap into the air, bowing their necks close to the ground. They also pick up stones or feathers from the ground and toss them into the air while they stamp their feet. Sometimes whole flocks may dance together in one place at the same time. For many years it was thought that this dancing was only performed during mating, but they also do it when an intruder approaches. Now it is thought that the cranes dance simply for fun.

The pair builds a platform-like nest of dry vegetation on the surface of shallow water. The female lays two brown-blotched, greenish-brown eggs, and both parents incubate them for about one month. The chicks may hatch one to two days apart. The chick to hatch first may leave the nest only a few hours after hatching and before the second chick hatches. This means that enough food is available for each one. After nine weeks their flight feathers have grown enough so that they are able to begin flying. When they are older, they are able to migrate great distances and at altitudes of two miles (three kilometers) above the ground. They become mature enough to mate between three to six years of age.

From their breeding grounds where they have spent the summer, the cranes move to wet and swampy areas to molt, or shed, their feathers. The flock then migrates to warmer southern climates. Along the way they fly in a v-formation, following the same routes and stopping at the same resting points each year.

The cranes have coiled windpipes which amplify their calls so that they may be heard several miles (several kilometers) away. Males have long, low calls, and females have high-pitched and short calls.

The life span of the common crane is thirty to forty years.

Common cranes have adapted to human settlement and continual climate change. Their numbers continue to increase and are classified as of least concern.

Bibliography

“Common Crane.” Animalia, 2024, animalia.bio/common-crane?custom‗list=667. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

“Common Crane Guide: How to Identify, How They Are Recovering in the UK, And Top Places to See Them.” Discover Wildlife, 19 Aug. 2024, www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/birds/facts-about-common-cranes. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

“Common Crane.” The Wildlife Trust, 28 Mar. 2022, www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/herons-egrets-spoonbill-and-crane/common-crane. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.