Grey Crowned Crane ( Balearica regulorum, family: Gruidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Crowned Crane

grey crowned crane Kruger National Park birds The Grey Crowned Crane (Latin name Balearica regulorum) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 209 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 307 also a picture of the Grey Crowned Crane on page 304. The Grey Crowned Crane belongs to the family of birds classified as Gruidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Grey Crowned Crane is also known by these other names: Southern Crowned Crane, South African Crowned Crane. Cape Crowned Crane, Blue-necked Crowned Crane, Grey-necked Crowned Crane.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Grey Crowned Crane was called the Crowned Crane

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Grey Crowned Crane is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

Southern Grey Crowned Crane Kruger National ParkIn terms of distribution of the Grey Crowned Crane in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Grey Crowned Crane has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Grey Crowned Crane is a large bird much bigger than a Pied Crow. The height of the Grey Crowned Crane is about 110 cms and its weight is about 4100 gms

You will find that the male Grey Crowned Crane plumage and colours are different to that of the female Grey Crowned Crane

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is blue.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is red.
  • Back is grey.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has long legs.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Grey Crowned Crane feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Grey Crowned Crane is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Balearica regulorum will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Grey Crowned Crane is to lay eggs which are blue in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Grey Crowned Crane are: wetlands . The Grey Crowned Crane is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You will normally see the Grey Crowned Crane in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Ihem

Zulu ... uNohemu

Afrikaans ...Mahem

German ... Kronenkranich

Portuguese ... Grou-coroado-austral

French ... Grue royale

Dutch ... Grijze Kroonkraan

First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list

For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 209

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za