Animalia Life

Anthropoides virgo
SUBFAMILY
Gruinae
TAXONOMY
Ardea virgo Linnaeus, 1758, India. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Grue demoiselle; German: Jungfernkranich; Spanish: Grulla Damisela.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Height 35.4 in (90 cm); wingspan 59–67 in (150–170 cm); weight 4.4–6.6 lb (2–3 kg). All gray, but with black neck and head, and white ear tufts behind eye to upper neck.
DISTRIBUTION
Eastern Europe across central Asia to eastern China. Small populations in Morocco and Turkey. Winter in Africa, Pakistan, and India.
HABITAT
Grassland near streams or other wetlands.
BEHAVIOR
Aggressively defend their nesting sites.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Generally grass seeds and other plant materials; also some insects, worms, lizards, and other small vertebrates.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Eggs are laid in nests made of pebbles, or laid on the ground, in upland or desert areas with some vegetation to hide the incubating parent.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, though listed on CITES Appendix II. Legally protected in many countries.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Good luck symbols in Mongolia and parts of India, and generally revered in Islamic countries.

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