Black Crowned Crane

Balearica pavonina - Grue couronnée

Systematics

Order
:
Gruiformes
Family
:
Gruidés
Genus
:
Balearica
Species
:
pavonina

Descriptor

Linnaeus, 1758

Biometrics

Size
: 105 cm
Wingspan
: 180 à 200 cm.
Weight
: 3000 à 4000 g

Longevity

20 years

Geographic range

Distribution

Identification

The body plumage is dark grey to black, which gives it its English name of Black Crowned Crane (Black Crowned Crane), in comparison to Grey Crowned Crane, the name of the Royal Crane (Grue royale) with which Black Crowned Crane is often confused, and which has a light grey body.
The remiges (coverts) are white on both sides of the wing, except for the large inner coverts which are tinged yellow. The secondaries are brown, while the primaries are black.
The head shows very contrasting colors: the forehead and the front of the crown, very steep, are black, while the back of the crown has a crown made of long, erect golden-colored feathers.
The cheeks are bare and bicolored, white in their upper half and red in their lower half, these two colors clearly demarcated.
The chin may carry a poorly developed red nodule. This excrescence never reaches the size of that worn by the Royal Crane.
The iris is pale blue.
The beak, long, strong, and straight, as well as the legs, are grey.
The sexes are identical.
The immatures resemble the adults in a duller form, with a less developed crown. Their eyes are brown.

Subspecific information 2 subspecies

Balearica pavonina pavonina (Senegal and Gambia to Chad)
Balearica pavonina ceciliae (sw Chad to w Ethiopia to nw Kenya and n Uganda)

Foreign names

Grue couronnée,
Grulla coronada cuellinegra,
grou-coroado-preto,
Schwarzhals-Kronenkranich,
feketenyakú koronásdaru,
Zwarte Kroonkraanvogel,
Gru coronata nera,
svart krontrana,
Svartkrontrane,
žurav korunkatý,
jeřáb paví,
Sort Krontrane,
kruunukurki,
grua coronada collnegra,
koronnik czarny,
Венценосный журавль,
カンムリヅル,
黑冕鹤,
黑冠鶴〔西非冕鶴〕,

Voice song and cries

play
pause

The Black Crowned Crane vocalises in flight and on the ground during social and nuptial displays. Its call is a resonant wong, sometimes doubled, and lower in pitch than that of the Grey Crowned Crane.

Habitat

The Black Crowned Crane frequents wetland areas in semi-desertic environments (shallow marshes, flooded areas, rice fields, agricultural plains or fallow lands near water...).

Behaviour character trait

Black-crowned Cranes are gregarious and monogamous. The pair would be bonded for life; the wedding parade is spectacular, including jumps, bows, chases with wings spread, all punctuated by cries.

Flight

Like other cranes, the Black Crowned Crane runs to take off and flies with its legs and neck outstretched. Its tail is held slightly down and the flight is typically choppy.

Dietfeeding habits

The Black Crowned Crane is omnivorous: its diet includes seeds, young shoots, insects, molluscs and other invertebrates, but also amphibians and reptiles.

Reproduction nesting

The Black Crowned Crane nests in dense wetlands vegetation. The female lays two or three eggs on a large platform built directly on the ground and it can measure more than one meter in diameter.

Geographic range

The Black Crowned Crane and the Royal Crane are two sub-Saharan species whose ranges are disjoint. The Black Crowned Crane can be found distributed along a relatively narrow sub-Saharan band extending from Senegal to Ethiopia and touching the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Kenya, where it comes into contact with its congener which replaces it further south.

Threats - protection

IUCN conservation status

Extinct

Threatened

Least
concern

Extinc
in the Wild

Near
threatened

Not
evaluated

EX EW CR EN VU NT LC NE

The main threats to the Black Crowned Crane are habitat loss due to drainage of wetlands for agriculture, bush fires, overgrazing, industrial and agricultural pollution by pesticides, hunting (the head and wings are used in traditional medicine), and capture of live animals. Oil exploration in and around wetlands can also be a local hazard. Its population has drastically decreased due to all these reasons, so the Black Crowned Crane is classified as vulnerable.