| Common Name: |
African crowned crane |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Gruidae |
| Genus species: | Balearica pavonina (of a peacock; referring to the crown or crest) |
| FAST FACTS |
| FUN FACTS |
| ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY |
| Description: |
large, long-legged birds, straight bills, long necks and elevated hind toe, bare pink or red and white cheek patch, golden feathery `crown' protruding from back of head |
| Size: | 110 to 130 cm (43.25-51 in) |
| Weight: | 3 to 4 kg (6.6-8.8 lb) |
| Diet: | grass seeds |
| Incubation: | 28 to 36 days, 2 to 4 eggs |
| Sexual maturity: | |
| Life span: | up to 25 years in zoos; wild life span unknown |
| Range: | |
| Habitat: | open marshlands, grasslands, and swamps |
| Population: | |
| Status: | currently not listed by USFWS or CITES |
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| 1. |
Unlike most cranes, crowned cranes lack folds in their windpipes making their voices very different from other cranes. |
| 2. | Crowned cranes occasionally roost in trees, a trait not seen in other cranes. |
| 3. | These cranes are often considered the living fossils of the crane family. They were able to survive the Ice Age in the savannas of Africa. |
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These cranes are important to the wetlands they live in as grazers on vegetation and as predators of small animals. Habitat destruction has been their greatest threat. As wetlands are drained for agricultural expansion these flock must move to find suitable habitats. They are also easy targets for egg collectors and poachers because of their conspicuous plumage. |
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Gotch, A.F. Birds-Their Latin Names Explained. Poole, Dorst: Blandford Press, 1981. |
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| Perrins, Dr. Christopher M. Birds: Their Life, Their Ways, Their World. New York: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1979. | |
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Perrins, Dr. Christopher M. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Birds: The Definitive Reference to Birds of the World. New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1990. |
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| Perrins, Dr. Christopher M., Middleton, Dr. Alex L.A. eds. The Encyclopedia of Birds. New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985. | |
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