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The grey crowned crane is approximately 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall, weighs 3.5 kg (7.7 lb), and has a wingspan of 2 m (6 ft 7 in). Its body plumage is mainly grey. The wings are predominantly white but contain feathers with a range of colours, with a distinctive black patch at the very top.
Clockwise from top left: blue cranes, sandhill cranes, grey crowned cranes, and red-crowned cranes Cranes are tall wading birds in the family Gruidae. Cranes are found on every continent except for South America and Antarctica and inhabit a variety of open habitats, although most species prefer to live near water. [ 1 ]
The bird genus Balearica (also called the crowned cranes or Balearic cranes) contains two extant species in the crane family Gruidae: the black crowned crane (B. pavonina) and the grey crowned crane (B. regulorum). [2] The species today occur only in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, and are the only
Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) Some authorities use the term "crowned crane" to refer generally to the genus Balearica. [1] Likewise, the International Ornithological Committee, who standardize common species names, have also used the group name "crowned crane" in the common names of the extant species of the genus Balearica. [2]
There are only two suprafamilial clades (natural groups) among the birds traditionally classified as Gruiformes. Rails (), flufftails (Sarothruridae), finfoots and sungrebe (Heliornithidae), adzebills (Aptornithidae), trumpeters (), limpkin (), and cranes compose the suborder Grues and are termed "core-Gruiformes". [4]
Cranes are large, long-legged, and long-necked birds. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances". Gray crowned-crane, Balearica regulorum (A) Black crowned-crane, Balearica pavonina; Demoiselle crane, Anthropoides virgo (A)
Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) in captivity at Martin Mere, UK Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) The family name Gruidae comes from the genus Grus, this genus name is obtained from the epithet of the common crane which is Ardea grus, it is named by Carl Linnaeus from the Latin word grus meaning "crane". [9]
The black crowned crane is now placed together with the grey crowned crane in the genus Balearica that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. [6] The genus name is from Latin Baliaricus meaning "of the Balearic Islands".