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
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