Common Grue

Grus grus


Classification

  • Order : Gruiformes
  • Family : Gruidae
  • Genus : Grus
  • Species : grus

Binomial Name

  • Linnaeus, 1758

Biometrics

  • Size: 115 cm
  • Wingspan : 180 to 200 cm
  • Weight : 4000 to 7000 g

Longevity

  • 17 years

Distribution


Vocalisation

XC : Jarek Matusiak

The call of the grey crane is a piercing and nasal “krooh” that carries far. On the breeding grounds, the adults emit more musical duets.

To learn more.


IUCN CONSERVATION STATUS


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IDENTIFICATION

The Common Crane has a slate gray plumage, with black or bluish-black feathers on the primaries and secondaries. A red patch, a piece of bare skin, can be seen at the top of the cap. The top of the neck, the throat, the forehead and the nape are black. A white patch starts from the eyes and extends to the back of the neck. The long beak is grey with a little reddish at the base. The eyes are red. The long legs and toes are black. We can distinguish three long fingers, the fourth is insignificant. Both sexes are similar.
The juvenile is slightly smaller than the adults. It has a feathered head of light brown color.

MythologY – Symbols

For the Egyptians, the cranes went to fight, at the sources of the Nile, the pygmies, “kinds of small men”, says Aristotle, “mounted on small horses, and who live in caves”. According to the Greeks, the cranes put a stone in their beak when they cross the Taurus mountain, to force themselves to remain silent, and to avoid arousing the attention of the eagles. The crane is also said to have revealed to Palamedes several characters of the alphabet. It is said that by examining the invariable dispositions of the flight of cranes, this judicious observer would have imagined the letters V and Y; hence the name of Palamedes’ bird, given in Greece.

HABITAT

Common cranes breed in muskeg, wet heaths and shallow freshwater marshes, as well as in swampy forests. They winter in open country near lakes and marshes, or further out in cultivated areas.

Threats – protection

The main problem in its nesting areas is human disturbance which results in low breeding rates. Other additional problems are hunting and collision with power lines. In the wintering grounds, the species is threatened by habitat modification, mainly the reduction of oak forests, as well as by the pursuit of farmers because of the damage caused to crops.

La Gallerie

Find all the walls

15 walls

Place

14-16 Penpoll Road,
London

Fresque

Hummingbird by Claire Ward Thornton

Par

Claire Ward-Thornton

Oiseau

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Place

Aknīste – Gārsene – Ausmas,
LV-5218 Gārsene,
Lettonie Zemgale

Fresque

Black storks

Par

Anda Lāce

Oiseau

Black Stork

Place

Bruxelles Belgique

Fresque

Turtle Dove

Par

Aurore Vegas

Oiseau

European Turtle Dove

Place

Jarrestraße 20,
22303 Hamburg,
Allemagne

Fresque

COMMON KESTREL

Par

Hanadi Chawaf

Oiseau

Common Kestrel

Place

Lisbonne,
Portugal

Fresque

Vulture & Eagle

Par

Tatiana Saum

Oiseaux

Spanish Imperial Eagle, Cinereous Vulture.

Place

Kišpatićeva ul. 12,
10000,
Zagreb,
Croatie

Fresque

Common Kingfisher

Par

Chez 186

Oiseau

Common Kingfisher

Place

1 Boulevard de Dresde,
67000 Strasbourg,
France Grand Est

Fresque

Eurasian Curlew

Par

Philippe Baudelocque

Oiseau

Eurasian Curlew

Place

Tabor,
1000 Ljubljana,
Slovénie

Fresque

Little Tern

Par

Škart

Oiseau

Little Tern

Place

Roodborststraat 18,
3083 WB Rotterdam,
Pays-Bas

Fresque

The European Robin

Par

Marloes de Kiewit

Oiseau

European Robin

Place

35 Rue du Général Leclerc92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

Fresque

Five birds by Mantra

Par

Mantra

Oiseaux

Common Kingfisher, Barn Swallow, European Goldfinch, Eurasian bullfinch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Place

Place Seigneur de Monlezun,
Sempesserre

Fresque

The Red Partridge

Par

Adèle Renault

Oiseau

Red-legged Partridge

Place

Ss Cyril & Methodius 44,
Skopje 1000,
Macédoine du Nord

Fresque

Egyptian Vulture

Par

Dorotej Neshovski

Oiseau

Egyptian Vulture

Place

2 Place des Marseillaises,
Marseille

Fresque

6 Mediterranean and American birds

Par

Fikos

Oiseaux

Eurasian Hoopoe, Western Black-eared Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush.

Place

299 Avenue de l’Adour,
Anglet

Fresque

11 migratory birds of the Basque coast

Par

MioSHe

Oiseau

Common crane

Place

84 Rue du Chemin Vert,
Boulogne-sur-Mer

Fresque

Common Kestrel

Par

Telmo Miel

Oiseau

Common Kestrel