Crane (bird)

Cranes
Common cranes (Grus grus) in Rajasthan
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Gruidae Vigors, 1825
Genera
Grus Anthropoides Balearica Bugeranus

A crane is a type of tall wading birds from the family Gruidae (order Gruiformes). There are 15 species in 4 genera. The tallest is the sarus crane, Grus antigone, which can grow to a height of up to 1.8 m (5.9 ft),^[1][2]

Cranes look a lot like herons but they are usually larger, and have a partly naked head, and a more heavy bill. When they are flying, their long neck is stretched out in front, and the legs trail out behind.^[3]

The earliest fossils of cranes were discovered in North America. Living forms are living everywhere all over the world except in Antarctica and South America. Many populations are endangered by hunting and habitat destruction.^[3]

1. ↑ Wood T.C. & Krajewsky C. 1996. Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation among the subspecies of sarus crane (Grus antigone) (PDF). The Auk 113 (3): 655–663. [1] Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
2. ↑ Vyas, Rakesh (2002). "Status of sarus crane Grus antigone antigone in Rajasthan and its ecological requirements" (PDF). Zoos' Print Journal. 17 (2): 691–695. doi:10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.17.2.691-5.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "crane (bird) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia". britannica.com. Retrieved 7 May 2010.