Crane (bird)

Crane (bird), common name for any of about 15 members of a family of birds, found from above the Arctic Circle to the southern tip of South Africa, in all continents except South America and Antarctica. Cranes are superficially similar to herons, which also have long legs and long necks, but they are not closely related. Cranes fly with their necks fully extended, whereas herons, once they have attained their full flight speed, pull their heads back so that the neck is bent in an S-curve.

Although their plumage is the most ornate in the family, anatomical and fossil evidence shows that the two crowned-cranes of Africa are the most primitive of living cranes. In these birds the top of the head is covered with black plush feathers, and a fan-shaped crest of strawlike feathers grows from the back of the head. There is a red and white area of bare skin on the cheeks, and a pair of red skin wattles under the chin. The body plumage is dark gray in one species, pale gray in the other.

The largest genus in the family contains nine species, including the only North American cranes, the sandhill crane and whooping crane. All of the members of this genus share an anatomical peculiarity; the trachea or windpipe is exceptionally long—as much as 1.5 m (5 ft)—and is coiled within the hollowed keel of the breastbone, somewhat like a French horn. It is believed that this arrangement gives additional resonance to the loud calls for which cranes of this genus are noted. All members of the genus have unfeathered areas on the head, often red in color; this is carried to the extreme in the sarus crane of southeastern Asia and Australia, in which the entire head and upper neck are bare.

Cranes are birds of open country—marshes, meadows, prairies, and tundra. They feed on small animals and vegetable matter. They are notable for their elaborate courtship dances, by which the pair bond is established.

Nine or more species and subspecies of cranes have very small populations and are considered endangered. Cooperative international conservation measures have helped substantially in reversing the decline in numbers of several of these, including the whooping crane, which nests in Canada and winters in Texas.

Scientific classification: Cranes belong to the family Gruidae of the order Gruiformes. The two crowned-cranes of Africa belong to the genus Balearica. The sandhill crane is classified as Grus canadensis, the whooping crane as Grus americana, and the sarus crane as Grus antigone.