Species Fact Profile: Demoiselle Crane (Grus [Anthropoides] virgo)

                                                                     Demoiselle Crane

                                               Grus [Anthropoides] virgo (Linnaeus, 1758)

Range: Central Eurasia, from the Black Sea east to Mongolia and northeastern China.  Winters in India and northeastern Africa (from Lake Cade eastwards to Ethiopia).

Habitat: Open grounds (grassland, desert, wetland) with sparse vegetation, usually near water

Diet: Seeds, leaves, acorns, nuts, berries, fruits, grains, insects, worms, snails, and small vertebrates

Social Grouping: Large flocks during migration, break off into pairs for nesting

Reproduction: Monogamous, may be for life (unsuccessful breeding pairs my break up and find new partners).  Breeding takes place during rainy season.  Pairs begin to form up in non-breeding flocks,   Usual clutch of 2 yellow-green eggs with lavender spots, laid in a nest of a few twigs and pebbles on the bare ground.  Both parents incubate the eggs for about 29 days (though females tend to sit on them more than males), drive predators away from the nest.  Chicks fledge at 55-60 days, remain with the parents for 8-10 months.  Begin to show adult behavior at about 18 months, but usually not reproductively mature until 4-8 years old

Lifespan: 20-25 Years (up to 65 Years in captivity)

      Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern , CITES Appendix II 

 

• Smallest of the cranes, with an average length of 90 centimeters.  Wingspan 51-59 centimeters.  Weight 2000-2700 grams.  Long legs and neck, long rounded wings stream-lined body.  Bill and toes are relatively short for a crane
• Sexes look alike.  Adults are pale bluish-gray, with black heads and necks, long white plumes stretching from behind the eyes and long black feathers hanging from the breast.  The eyes are reddish-orange, the legs are black, bill gray (sometimes with a pinkish tip).  Juveniles are ashy gray with white heads and gray tufts by the ears
• Calls include a contact call, which is a soft purr, a guard call, which is a sharp, single call used to express alarm, and the duet used to strengthen the bound and protect the territory.  Courtship displays includes calling in unison (distinct posture, wings closed, female bill points up, male bill horizontal), dance of leaps, bows, runs, short flights performed before copulation.       
• Migratory.  Fly at high altitudes (prefer to fly low, but will go as high as 8000 meters, and will fly over the Himalayas) to travel between winter and breeding grounds, travelling in flocks of up to 400 individuals.  Begin migration in August to September, may share winter grounds with other crane species.  Fly north again in March or April, this time in much smaller flocks (4-10 birds).
• Common name refers to a French term for an elegant woman “young lady, or damsel,” said to have been bestowed by Marie Antoinette; said by English naturalist Eleazar Albin to have “certain ways of acting that… imitate the gestures of a woman who affects a grace in her walking, obeisances, and dancing.” 
• Population increasing (second most numerous crane species), though some populations are in decline, especially in European portion of range.  Historic population in northwest Africa is now extinct, as is former population in Turkey.  Threats include habitat loss and degradation for agriculture or dam construction, hunting for sport and meat, and intentional poisoning due to perceived crop damage.  Some capture of birds to keep as pets
• In ancient Indian culture, this species was considered a paradigm of beauty and grace in art and poetry, as well as a metaphorical reference for those who have taken hazardous journeys long from home.  The sight of a lovelorn female demoiselle crane circling her slain mate was said to have inspired the first verse of the Hindu epic Ramayana, while the formation of these cranes in flight was said to have inspired infantry formations