The Common Crane is a tall gray crane with a black-and-white head and neck that breeds across northern Europe and Asia. In North America it is only a rare stray, and single birds have turned up traveling with flocks of Sandhill Cranes. It is also called the Eurasian Crane.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Stands about 3.3–4.3 ft (100–130 cm) tall with a wingspan of 6–8 ft (1.8–2.4 m). The body is slate gray, the face and front of the neck are black, a white stripe runs from behind the eye down the neck, and there is a small patch of bare red skin on the crown. Drooping wing plumes form a bushy 'bustle' over the tail.
- Voice
- A loud, far-carrying trumpeting call, made possible by a long windpipe coiled inside the breastbone.
Look-alikes
The Sandhill Crane has a red forehead and plain white cheeks but no black neck or white neck stripe, and its gray feathers are often stained rusty brown. The Common Crane has a black face and foreneck with a white stripe running down the side of the head.
Why they get mixed upStray Common Cranes in North America usually travel inside Sandhill Crane flocks, so a lone odd-looking bird in a flock is easy to overlook.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Marshes
- Lakeshores
- Farm fields
- Grasslands
- Range
- Breeds from Scandinavia and the rest of northern Europe east through Russia and Siberia. Winters mainly in Spain, Portugal, North Africa, northern India, and eastern China.
- Seasonal presence
- In North America it is a rare . The first North American sighting was published in 1958, and later strays have been accepted in western states including California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. Nearly all U.S. reports fall between October and early May.
- Migration
- Strays reaching North America very likely join flocks of Lesser Sandhill Cranes in Siberia, where both breed, and follow them across to their wintering grounds.
Behavior
- Diet
- Mostly plant food such as roots, tubers, seeds, and waste grain, plus insects, snails, worms, frogs, and small rodents, especially while raising young.
Life cycle
- Nest
- A mound of plants on wet ground or in shallow water. It does not breed in North America.
- Clutch size
- Usually 2 eggs
- Incubation
- About 30 days
- Fledging
- Chicks leave the nest within a day and make short flights at about 9–10 weeks.
- Lifespan
- Up to 43 years in captivity; wild birds live much shorter lives on average.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
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