The common or Eurasian crane is a large, graceful bird, known for its elaborate courtship dances and long tail feathers. It has recently been reintroduced to the UK after the population was devastated by the draining of the fens 300 years ago.
Breeding birds: 48 pairs
Wintering birds: 150 pairs
UK passage: 40 birds
Family: Cranes
The adult crane has slate-grey plumage, with a darker back and rump and a paler breast and wings. Its primary and secondary flight feathers have black tips, while the upper tail coverts are edged in black and have long, drooping greater coverts.
The upper neck, throat, face, and nape are black, accented by a white streak running from the eyes to the hind neck. A distinctive red patch of bare skin adorns the crown of its head.
The crane’s bill is grey with a red base, its eyes are red, and its long black legs have three elongated toes. Male and female cranes appear similar, though males are slightly larger and heavier.
The juvenile crane differs with dull yellow tips on its body feathers, a grey throat, and a chestnut-coloured head without the bare crown patch. The tail is less developed, and its legs are brown or dark grey, while the eyes are brown or grey.
Every two years, adult cranes undergo a complete moult before migration. During this six-week period, they are flightless as they grow new feathers.
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The crane breeds in May and produces one brood per season. It is typically social and gregarious, but during breeding season becomes territorial and nests solitarily. It forms long-term monogamous pair bonds, but if one partner dies, the surviving crane will court a new mate the following year.
Despite being together for many seasons, crane pairs continue to perform elaborate courtship rituals each year. These displays include marching, dancing, bowing, bobbing, and pirouetting.
The crane nests near shallow water, choosing an area with dense vegetation such as woodland, or on an island to protect the nest from predators. The nest is a large platform made of dry grass, constructed on the ground by both parents. The clutch is typically one or two olive or pale brown eggs, marked with darker spots, which are mostly incubated by the female over a four-week period.
The chicks are precocial, capable of swimming soon after hatching and running within 24 hours. They fledge at around two months but remain with their parents until the end of their first winter, and reach sexual maturity between three and five years of age.
Like other species of crane, the common crane is omnivorous. It eats a variety of plant matter including leaves, seeds, cereals, acorns, and roots.
During breeding season, it supplements its diet with animal matter such as insects, spiders, molluscs, crustaceans, and small mammals and birds.
It forages on land or in shallow water, using its bill to probe for prey.
Cranes are found all year round in the UK but are most likely to be seen during migration in April and early May in the south and east of England. There is a small breeding population in Norfolk.
Look out them in marshes and flooded meadows.
Despite being extinct in Ireland for over 200 years, cranes play an important part in Irish culture and folklore. Cranes are a symbol of envy and there are numerous stories about women transformed into cranes by rivals.
