White-naped crane

Grus vipio

Photo by Robin Newlin (Birds Korea)

Common name:
white-naped crane (en); grou-de-pescoço-branco (pt); grue à cou blanc (fr); grulla cuelliblanca (es); weißnackenkranich (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Gruiformes
Family Gruidae

Range:
This species breeds in eastern Mongolia, north-eastern China and extreme south-eastern Russia. They migrate south to winter in Korea, southern Japan and along the Yangtze river basin, in the Chinese provinces of Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu.


Size:
This large crane is 125-140 cm long and has a wingspan of 200-210 cm. They weigh 4,7-6,5 kg.

Habitat:
The white-naped crane is found in wetlands along river valleys, grassy marshes, wet sedge meadows, and on islands of steppe lakes with reed bed. They also use wheat fields and other farmland, and occasionally coastal flats.

Diet:
They feed on insects, small vertebrates such as frogs and toads, the seeds, roots and tubers of sedges and other wetland plants, and also fruits, rice grains and other cereals such as wheat.

Breeding:
White-naped cranes breed in April-September. They are monogamous ans mate for life. The nest is made of dried sedges and grasses, and placed on the ground in an open wetlands, typically amongst dense vegetation. There the female lays 1-3 light brown eggs with reddish speckles, which are incubated by both parents for 30-33 days. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching, and may be fed by the parents for few days, but quickly start foraging by themselves. They chicks are protected by the parents until they fledge, 70-75 days after hatching, and follow the parents during migration with the family remaining together over the winter.

Conservation:
IUCN status -VU (Vulnerable)
This species has a large breeding range, but the global population is estimated at just 3.300-3.900 individuals. Although accurate data on population trends are lacking, numbers are thought likely to be in rapid decline owing to habitat loss in both the breeding and wintering grounds, through wetland drainage, livestock grazing and construction of dams, as well as other negative factors such as hunting, disturbance, nest predation and pollution. Conservation actions underway include legal protection of important breeding and wintering areas and artificial feeding in Japanese wintering areas.

Common crane

Grus grus

Photo by Tarique Sani (Flickr)

Common name:

common crane (en); grou (pt); grue cendrée (fr); grulla común (es); kranich (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Gruiformes

Family Gruidae

Range:

They breed in northern Eurasia, from Scandinavia, Germany and Poland in the west, all the way to eastern Siberia, Mongolia and northern China. There are also some isolated breeding populations further south, in Turkey. They winter in the Iberian Peninsula and along the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, along the Nile basin, in the Middle East, northern India and in southern China.

Size:

These large birds are 110-130 cm long and have a wingspan of 220-245 cm. They weigh 5-7 kg.

Habitat:

During the breeding season this species utilizes a wide variety of shallow wetlands, including high altitude, treeless moors or bogs, usually with some standing water, and swampy forest clearings, reedy marshes and rice paddies. In Central Asia the species may use drier forested areas including pine or mixed birch/pine woodland. They winter in floodlands, swampy meadows, shallow sheltered bays, rice paddies, pastures and savanna-like areas such as the open Holm and cork oak woodlands in the Iberian Peninsula.

Diet:

The common crane is omnivorous. They forage on a wide range of roots, rhizomes, tubers, herbs, pondweeds, berries, cereal grains, peas, olives, acorns and nuts. they hunt various animals including beetles, flies, larval Lepidoptera, snails, earthworms, millipedes, spiders, frogs, lizards, snakes, small mammals, fish and occasionally the eggs and young of small birds.

Breeding:

They start nesting in March-April. The nest is a mound of wetland vegetation, generally placed in or near water in an inaccessible, undisturbed bog, heath, marsh, mire or sedge meadow. The female lays 2 greenish-brown eggs with brown spots. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 29-31 days. The nidifugous chicks leave the nest within 30 h of hatching, but the parents will stay with them, brooding and offering food whenever necessary. the chicks fledge 65-70 days after hatching, but often remain with the parents even on migration and in the wintering areas.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

Both the breeding and non-breeding habitats are threatened by habitat loss and degradation through dam construction, urbanization and agricultural intensification. Increased nest disturbance and nest predation are also a problem in some parts of their range. Pesticide poisoning, collisions with power lines and hunting are threats during migration and winter. Despite these, overall the population trend is uncertain, as some populations are decreasing, while others are increasing, stable or have unknown trends. With a population of 360.000-370.000 individuals and a very large breeding range, the species is not considered threatened at present.