Grey crowned crane

Balearica regulorum

A large crane of eastern and southern African wetlands and grasslands, marked by a golden crown, white cheeks, and red throat.

Key facts

Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) is an omnivore animal classified as Bird · Gruiformes · Gruidae.
Primary habitats are freshwater · grassland · savanna, with a range across Afrotropical.
Activity is diurnal, sociality is pair, and conservation status is EN (Endangered).
A large crane of eastern and southern African wetlands and grasslands, marked by a golden crown, white cheeks, and red throat.
Uses savannas, grasslands, wetlands, lakesides, river edges, and farmland, while nesting in well-vegetated wet places.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Uses savannas, grasslands, wetlands, lakesides, river edges, and farmland, while nesting in well-vegetated wet places.

It has a grey body, black-and-white wings, white cheek patches, a red throat pouch, and a fan of stiff golden crown feathers.

Pairs or small groups walk through open habitat and perform dancing displays. They may roost in trees at night.

It is omnivorous, eating grass seeds, grain, insects, frogs, small fish, and small reptiles.

Pairs build nests in wetland vegetation and defend territories. Chicks are precocial and follow their parents soon after hatching.

Wetland loss, farming pressure, and capture have driven declines, making it one of Africa's most threatened cranes.