Animalia Life

Grus grus
SUBFAMILY
Gruinae
TAXONOMY
Ardea grus Linnaeus, 1758 Sweden. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Common crane; French: Grue cendrйe; German: Kranich; Spanish: Grulla Comъn.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Height 45 in (114 cm); wingspan 71–78.7 in (180–200 cm); weight male 11–13.4 lb (5–6.1 kg), female 10–13 lb (4.5–5.9 kg). Gray body with black primaries. Head and neck are dark with white stripe from behind eyes down neck. Crown has red skin patch.
DISTRIBUTION
The most widely distributed of all cranes, they occupy an area extending across the Scandinavian countries south to Germany and then east to eastern Russia and China. Winter in Spain, northern Africa, the Middle East, India, Indochina, and China.
HABITAT
Shallow wetlands. In winter range, it may forage in agricultural fields and pastures.
BEHAVIOR
Migrates throughout Asia, Europe, and northern Africa.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Omnivorous, including tubers, stems, leaves, berries, and other plant material; also invertebrates (worms and insects) and some small vertebrates (snakes, fish, rodents).
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Typically lays 2 eggs, incubated for 28–31 days. Chicks fledge at 65–70 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, though listed on CITES Appendix II. Its habitat would benefit from increased protection in heavily populated areas of Europe.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Their yearly return to the Scandinavian countries is heralded as a sign of spring.

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