Demoiselle Crane
Anthropoides virgo

CLASS: Aves
ORDER: Gruiformes
FAMILY: Gruidae

SIZE:
35 inches

RANGE:
Russia from the Ukraine to southeastern Siberia and parts of Northwest Africa

HABITAT:
Steppes (wooded grass covered plains)

DIET:

• Wild - Plant material of any kind, small animals such as worms, snails, insects, frogs, lizards, mice, and young birds
• Zoo - Crane chow, mealworms, scratch feed, corn

DESCRIPTION:

• Small crane with white and gray plumage
• Conspicuous white feather tuft on each side of head
• Long legs and neck
• Straight, short, sturdy beak

FACTS:

• Smallest of the cranes
• Hibernates in Northeast and East Africa, Iraq, and Southern Asia

YOUNG:

• Nest and brood on the ground
• Clutch usually consists of two long oval-shaped eggs
• Young can walk from the day of birth and in an emergency swim; at 10 weeks the young can fly

STATUS:
CITES App. II; abundant in parts of its range; extirpated in parts of range due to habitat loss

REFERENCE:
"Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia," Vol. 8 Birds II, Dr. Bernhard Grzimek