Northern Europe Birds · September

Common Crane

Grus grus

Gray crane with a bugling call and spectacular dances.

At a glance

HabitatMarshes, bogs, agricultural fields on migration

DietOmnivorous — plants, grains, invertebrates, small animals

RangeNorthern Europe and Asia; winters south to Africa/Asia

Coloring posein marsh takeoff, long legs trailing

Hear this bird

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Mating / display: No separately labeled courtship recording was found on primary sources for this species — use the general calls page.

Play calls on Audubon Wikipedia overview

How to know it

Tall gray bird with black neck and white cheek stripe
Red crown patch
Long dark flight feathers ‘bustle’

Fun facts

Pairs perform leaping courtship dances
Fly in V or lines with loud trumpeting
Cultural symbol across Europe and Asia

Companion page for the Birds Coloring Calendar series by R. J. D. B. Fact summaries are original educational text. Call playback via outbound links only. Not affiliated with Cornell Lab, Audubon, or Xeno-canto.

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