Common crane
Grus grus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The common crane (Grus grus), also called the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae in the order Gruiformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 5.5 kg and a wingspan of 2.22 m.
Quick facts about the common crane
The common crane is a migratory, terrestrial omnivore of wetland habitats, with a geographic range of 15,460,000 km². It lays 2 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, incubates them for 30 days, reaches sexual maturity at 5 years, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
- Weight
- 5.35 kg – 5.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 2.22 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 39.4 years – 43 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- omnivoresrc for Main food
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 30 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the common crane?
Photos of the common crane
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the common crane live?
Not recorded
What is the common crane?
The common crane (Grus grus), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (Grus virgo) and the Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) that only are regular in the far eastern part of the continent. Along with the sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), demoiselle crane and the brolga (Antigone rubicunda), it is one of only four crane species not currently classified as threatened with extinction or conservation dependent on the species level. Despite the species' large numbers, local extinctions and extirpations have taken place in part of its range, and an ongoing reintroduction project is underway in the United Kingdom.
From the Wikipedia article “Common crane” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_crane&oldid=1382870980), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the common crane sound like?
Is the common crane endangered?
The common crane is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the common crane classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyGruidae
- genusGrus
- SpeciesGrus grus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Ardea grus, Grus canorus, Grus cinereus, Grus communis, Grus grus archibaldi, Grus grus grus, Grus grus lilfordi, Grus lilfordi, Grus linnéi, Grus nostras, Megalornis grus, Megalornis grus lilfordi
Other names and names in other languages (132)
- COCREnglish
- CraneEnglish
- Eurasian craneEnglish
- KraanvoëlAfrikaans
- Eurasiese KraanvoëlAfrikaans
- كركي شائعArabic
- كركي الأوراسيArabic
- كركي مألوفArabic
- Gruda comúnAragonese
- grúaAsturian
- GrullaAsturian
- КъункъраAvaric
- Boz durnaAzerbaijani
- Һоро торнаBashkir
- Шэры журавельBelarusian
- Сив жеравBulgarian
- Garan louetBreton
- GruaCatalan
- grua europeaCatalan
- ǴaraǵuliChechen
- Луды тыртняMari
- Сӑрӑ тӑрнаChuvash
- Сăрă тăрнаChuvash
- jeřáb popelavýCzech
- jeřáb popelavý sibiřskýCzech
- TrulôczKashubian
- GaranWelsh
- GaranodWelsh
- TraneDanish
- KranichGerman
- Eurasischer KranichGerman
- Grauer KranichGerman
- ΓερανόςGreek
- Ευρωπαϊκός ΓερανόςGreek
- (Ευρωπαϊκός) ΓερανόςGreek
- Cindra gruoEsperanto
- ordinara gruoEsperanto
- Grulla comúnSpanish
- sookurgEstonian
- Kurrilo arruntBasque
- درنای معمولیPersian
- kurkiFinnish
- TraniFaroese
- Grue cendréeFrench
- KraanekNorthern Frisian
- KraanWestern Frisian
- CorrIrish
- Corr mhónaIrish
- GrúsIrish
- Grús liathIrish
- Corra mhonaichScottish Gaelic
- Corra mhonaidhScottish Gaelic
- corra-mhonaidhScottish Gaelic
- corrachan-monaidhScottish Gaelic
- Grou eurasiáticoGalician
- GrooseManx
- કુંજGujarati
- עגור אפורHebrew
- Sivi ždralCroatian
- daruHungarian
- Közönséges daruHungarian
- Մոխրագույն կռունկArmenian
- GrátranaIcelandic
- GruItalian
- Gru cenerinaItalian
- クロヅルJapanese
- რუხი წეროGeorgian
- КъруKabardian
- Пора турнаkjn
- ТазтырнаKazakh
- Сұр тырнаKazakh
- 검은목두루미Korean
- ТуриKomi
- Акъ турнаKarachay-Balkar
- QulingKurdish
- Ак турнаKyrgyz
- GrusLatin
- HorgänsLuxembourgish
- HuergänsLuxembourgish
- KrukertLuxembourgish
- KroenekraanLimburgish
- pilkoji gervėLithuanian
- dzērveLatvian
- (pelēkā) dzērveLatvian
- Pelēkā dzērveLatvian
- турняMari
- ЖеравMacedonian
- GrawwaMaltese
- ТогорууMongolian
- सामान्य क्रौंचMarathi
- kraanvogelDutch
- ХърихъуппOssetic
- TalgansPalatine German
- Żuraw szaryPolish
- żurawPolish
- żuraw (zwyczajny)Polish
- Żuraw popielatyPolish
- Żuraw zwyczajnyPolish
- GrùaPiedmontese
- عام کرینWestern Panjabi
- grouPortuguese
- Grou-comumPortuguese
- grou-eurasiáticoPortuguese
- Gru grischRomansh
- CocorRomanian
- Серый журавльRussian
- GroiSicilian
- GoargaNorthern Sami
- GuorgaNorthern Sami
- žeriav popolavýSlovak
- žerjavSlovenian
- Navadni žerjavSlovenian
- sivi žerjavSlovenian
- KrillaAlbanian
- ждралSerbian
- ŽdralSerbian
- Ždral / ЖдралSerbian
- FuselluSardinian
- tranaSwedish
- Korongo paji-jeusiSwahili
- Aq turnaTatar
- นกกระเรียนยุโรปThai
- นกกกระเรียนพันธุ์ยุโรปThai
- นกกระเรียนพันธุ์ยุโรปThai
- Ak durnaTurkmen
- TurnaTurkish
- Бора дуруяаTuvinian
- журавель сірийUkrainian
- Sếu cổ trắngVietnamese
- KraenveugelZeelandic
- 灰鶴Chinese
- 灰鹤Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common crane
Other species in the same genus Grus.
Red-crowned crane
Grus japonensis
Tibetan crane
Grus nigricollis
Hooping crane
Grus americana
Hooded crane
Grus monacha
Wattled crane
Grus carunculata
CompareCommon crane vs Red-crowned craneCommon crane vs Tibetan craneCommon crane vs Hooping craneCommon crane vs Hooded crane
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common crane?
The common crane is a bird of the family Gruidae, subfamily Gruinae, in the order Gruiformes.
How big is the common crane?
The common crane has an adult body mass of 5.5 kg and a wingspan of 2.22 m, placing it in the medium size class.
What does the common crane eat?
The common crane is an omnivore.
Where does the common crane live?
The common crane lives in wetland habitats and is migratory, with a geographic range of 15,460,000 km².
Is the common crane endangered?
No. The common crane is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the common crane live?
Sources give a lifespan of 39.4 years for the common crane, with values up to 43 years reported.
How many eggs does the common crane lay?
The common crane lays 2 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 30 days.
Who named the common crane?
The common crane, Grus grus, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common crane (Grus grus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-crane
“Common crane (Grus grus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-crane.
@misc{common_crane_2026,
title = {Common crane (Grus grus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-crane},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}