Common Crane

The Common Crane (also called the Eurasian Crane) is a large, elegant bird with mostly slate-grey plumage, a black-and-white striped head and neck pattern, and a small patch of bare red skin on the crown. Drooping, curved tertial feathers form a bushy 'bustle' over the tail, adding to the bird's graceful silhouette.

It is one of the most widespread crane species, breeding across a huge swath of northern Eurasia and undertaking long migrations to wintering grounds in southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and East Asia.

Key field marks

• Slate-grey body with black primaries visible in flight
• Black-and-white striped pattern on the head and neck
• Small red crown patch
• Drooping, bushy tertial plumes over the tail (the 'bustle')

Similar species

The Demoiselle Crane is smaller, with a fully black neck and breast and prominent white ear tufts, lacking the Common Crane's red crown. The Grey Heron is superficially similar in grey coloration but flies with its neck retracted in an S-shape rather than extended, and lacks the red crown and black-and-white head pattern.

Common Cranes breed in wetlands, bogs, and marshes bordered by open forest or tundra across a broad range from Scandinavia and Central Europe eastward through Russia and into parts of northern China and Mongolia.

The species migrates in large, often V-shaped or line flocks to wintering grounds in Spain and France, North Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and East Asia, with traditional staging sites such as Hornborgasjön in Sweden and Lac du Der in France attracting large numbers of birdwatchers during migration.

Common Cranes are omnivorous, foraging in wetlands and agricultural fields for seeds, roots, tubers, insects, and small vertebrates, often gathering in large flocks at traditional staging and wintering sites, especially where waste grain is available.

Their loud, far-carrying, trumpeting call is produced by an elongated coiled trachea, similar to other true cranes, and is frequently given in flight during migration. Pairs perform elaborate dancing displays involving bowing, leaping, and wing-flapping as part of courtship and pair-bond maintenance. Nests are built on the ground in marshes or bogs, typically with two eggs, and both parents share incubation and care of the precocial chicks.