Crane

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Crane, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Amber listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	No
Birds Directive Annex 1	Yes
Listed on the Annexes of	WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II), AEWA, CITES(II)

Cranes formerly bred in the UK but became extinct in the sixteenth century (Stanbury et al. 2011). A small Crane population has persisted in Norfolk since the 1980s (Stanbury et al 2011) with both numbers and the UK breeding range increasing more strongly in the 21st century to a five-year mean of 40 breeding pairs over the period 2015–2019 (Eaton et al. 2021). Cranes now breed widely across the UK including, from 2012, in Scotland (Biggins & Maggs 2021) and numbers have also been boosted by releases between 2010 and 2014 (Eaton et al. 2021).

UK winter population

+9000% increase (1995/96 to 2020/21)

Cranes have increased significantly over the last few decades. During Bird Atlas 2007–11 breeding evidence was received for 21 10-km squares, most falling in four extensive areas of relatively undisturbed wetlands in Britain. In 2011 the winteirng population was estimated at c.50 birds with the majority in southern England, particularly the Broads and Fens. By the 2020s that number may be 2–3 times higher.

Cranes are localised but can be encountered throughout the year.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Typical Lifespan	13 years with breeding typically at 4 year
Adult Survival	0.9
Juvenile Survival	0.81

Sample sizes are too small to report Biometrics for this species.

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Field Codes

2-letter: AN | 5-letter code: CRANE | Euring: 4330

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

The growth of the Crane population since recolonisation has been slow, with low productivity in the initial population in the Broads. It is not clear whether the recent range expansion has originated from the Broads or from new immigrants from Europe, though it has also been assisted by reintroductions (Stanbury et al. 2011). Cranes require large areas of undisturbed wetland to breed and further expansion may be limited by habitat availability (Stanbury et al. 2011).