Species group · Birds
Cranes
WAnimals has 11 species of crane, in the family Gruidae.
- 11 species
- 1 family
- 117 countries
- 129 parks
- Weight
- 2 kg – 12 kg
- Length
- 85 cm – 1.8 m
- Lifespan
- 20 – 60 years
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 11.
All 11 species of cranes on WAnimals
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
VulnerableRed-crowned Crane
Grus japonensis
7 countries5 parks
Least ConcernCommon Crane
Grus grus
49 countries8 parks
Least ConcernSandhill Crane
Antigone canadensis
5 countries25 parks
Near ThreatenedBlack-necked Crane
Grus nigricollis
12 countries6 parks
EndangeredGrey Crowned Crane
Balearica regulorum
43 countries32 parks
VulnerableSarus Crane
Antigone antigone
11 countries15 parks
Least ConcernDemoiselle Crane
Grus virgo
18 countries21 parks
VulnerableWattled Crane
Bugeranus carunculatus
13 countries26 parks
Critically EndangeredSiberian Crane
Leucogeranus leucogeranus
8 countries7 parks
Vulnerable
Black Crowned Crane
Balearica pavonina
12 countries9 parks
Endangered
Whooping Crane
Grus americana
2 countries7 parks
Conservation status
4 Vulnerable3 Least Concern2 Endangered1 Near Threatened1 Critically Endangered
7 species in this group are in a threatened category according to the IUCN.
Where they live
Recorded in 117 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…?
A symbol of long life in Japan; the pairs perform a synchronised dance on the snow.
From Red-crowned Crane
In Japan, China and Korea it has symbolised longevity and marital fidelity for more than a thousand years, and the tradition of folding a thousand origami cranes is inspired by it.
From Red-crowned Crane
The Japanese population was given up for extinct until some thirty surviving birds were found in the Kushiro marshes on Hokkaido in 1924: today there are more than a thousand, thanks to winter feeding stations maintained by local farmers.
From Red-crowned Crane
It flies in a V on migration, a formation that cuts drag and saves energy for the birds behind the leader.
From Common Crane
The oldest crane fossil attributed to this species is some ten million years old, which would make it one of the oldest known living bird species.
From Sandhill Crane
Every March more than half a million of them gather along an eighty-kilometre stretch of the Platte River in Nebraska: it is the largest concentration of cranes in the world and one of the great natural spectacles of North America.
From Sandhill Crane
It was the last crane in the world to be described by science, in 1876, and the last whose eggs and nest were documented, as late as 1919.
From
In Bhutan a festival is held every November to mark its arrival in the Phobjikha valley, and its sacred status in Tibetan Buddhism has protected it more effectively than many conservation laws.
From