Black Crowned-Crane Balearica pavonina Scientific name definitions

100–105 cm; 3000–4000 g; wingspan 180–200 cm. Iris pale grey to pale blue. Distinguished from B. regulorum by darker neck, small wattles, and red in lower part of cheek patch. Juvenile generally grey, with brown crown and nape, grey to brown body, and brown iris. Race <em>ceciliae</em> has red extending somewhat more than halfway up cheek patch (only up to about halfway in nominate pavonina) and is smaller (wing 470–567 mm, versus 506–585 mm) (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ).

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Mixture of shallow wetlands and grassland. In W Africa, affects flooded lowlands, riverbanks, rice fields and wet cropland, and upland fields. In E Africa, found in extensive marshes, wet meadows, and in margins of ponds, lakes and rivers. Will nest and forage in uplands, but always close to wetlands.

Usually regarded as being non-migratory, but the species is only occasionally recorded in Congo-Kinshasa, where all records have been in Mar–Apr (4 Demey, R., P. Herroelen, and T. Pedersen (2000). Additions and annotations to the avifauna of Congo-Kinshasa (ex-Zaïre). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 120(3):154–172. Close ), while Black Crowned Cranes breeding in S Senegal between Aug and Nov thereafter move S to Guinea-Bissau, where numbers peak in Jan (5 Dodman, T. and Diagana, C. (2007). Movements of waterbirds within Africa and their conservation implications. Ostrich. 78(2): 149–154. Close ), and the species is also considered to be highly mobile over E Africa (6 Beilfuss, R.D., Dodman, T. and Urban, E.K. (2007). The status of cranes in Africa in 239395. Ostrich. 78(2): 175-184. Close ). Daily and seasonal movements, up to perhaps several dozen kilometres, between feeding and roosting areas. Often flocks in large numbers during dry season, dispersing from large permanent wetlands to breed in smaller temporary wetlands during rainy season.

Generalist. Feeds on insects, including grasshoppers and flies; other invertebrates, including molluscs, millipedes and crustaceans; fish, amphibians and reptiles; and seed heads and tips of grasses, as well as crops, e.g. millet, corn, rice. Normally pecks food off surface, rarely digs; sometimes stamps feet, probably trying to disturb invertebrate prey; in dry season, frequently forages near herds of domestic livestock, where invertebrates occur in greater abundance.

Calls are mellow honks, e.g. a single “honk” and a “ka-wonk” (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ), generally low-pitched, with some differences from those of B. regulorum.

Jul–Oct, but variable in response to rains, only occasionally nests during dry season (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ). Nest, constructed by both sexes (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ), is circular platform of grasses and sedges (diameter at base 69–109 cm × 71–140 cm) (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ) built within or along edge of densely vegetated wetlands; sometimes builds more than one nest (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ). Eggs 2–3, green or pale blue with brown markings, size 70–87 mm × 71–140 mm, mass 122–168 g (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ); average clutch size c. 2·5, similar to that of B. regulorum. Incubation (commencing with first egg) (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ) 28–31 days, by both sexes, with female probably taking nocturnal duties (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ); plumage of chicks undescribed; soon after hatching, one day apart (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ), chicks forage with parents in nearby uplands; fledging period perhaps 60–100 days. Eggs sometimes predated by Pied Crow (Corvus albus) (1 Urban, E. K., C. H. Fry, and S. Keith, Editors (1986). The Birds of Africa. Volume 2. Academic Press, London, UK, and New York, NY, USA. Close ). Age of sexual maturity undetermined.

VULNERABLE. CITES II.  In past, species was probably more numerous and more evenly distributed. Population of race ceciliae estimated at 28,000–55,000 birds in 2004 (with by far the largest numbers in Sudan, where 36,823 were counted at the Sudd swamps in 1979) and considered relatively stable, although numbers in 1985 were suggested to be 50,000–70,000 individuals (6 Beilfuss, R.D., Dodman, T. and Urban, E.K. (2007). The status of cranes in Africa in 239395. Ostrich. 78(2): 175-184. Close ). Population of race pavonina, estimated at 15,000 birds by 2004, declined dramatically in the 1960s and 1970s due to drought, human population pressures, and habitat loss, but numbers appear to have stabilized since the mid 1980s (6 Beilfuss, R.D., Dodman, T. and Urban, E.K. (2007). The status of cranes in Africa in 239395. Ostrich. 78(2): 175-184. Close ); contraction of range of this race has led to near or total extirpation in several countries, including Nigeria (where it is the national bird) and Mali (6 Beilfuss, R.D., Dodman, T. and Urban, E.K. (2007). The status of cranes in Africa in 239395. Ostrich. 78(2): 175-184. Close ); not recorded in Sierra Leone since 1930s, when was not uncommon in small groups; has become much less common in Ghana, and is now rare. Largest numbers speculated to persist in the L Chad basin area, in Chad (5500 birds) and Cameroon (3000), with substantial numbers (that were probably previously underestimated) in the coastal rice-growing zone from the Casamance region of Senegal to Guinea (6 Beilfuss, R.D., Dodman, T. and Urban, E.K. (2007). The status of cranes in Africa in 239395. Ostrich. 78(2): 175-184. Close ). Habitat loss and degradation continue to be the most serious threats; drought-related declines in wetlands have been compounded by intensive agricultural development and expansion and by large-scale dam, drainage and irrigation projects; although most pressing in W Africa, these factors also affect the species in E of range. Hunting and trade are of concern in some areas, especially Guinea, Mali and Sudan, with considerable demand for birds in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and China (6 Beilfuss, R.D., Dodman, T. and Urban, E.K. (2007). The status of cranes in Africa in 239395. Ostrich. 78(2): 175-184. Close ); For example, surveys of two towns in the Inner Niger Delta of Mali, in 2001, found that 55 people had 129 cranes in captivity and that over the period 1998–2000, 165 birds were traded, with 70 being exported to other countries; average purchase price from a hunter was €24, but the selling price was between €55 and €159 (7 Kone, B., Fofana, B., Beilfuss, R. and Dodman, T. (2007). The impact of capture, domestication and trade on Black Crowned Cranes in the Inner Niger Delta, Mali. Ostrich. 78(2): 195-203. Close ). Furthermore, 1840 individuals were exported from Tanzania (where the species does not occur naturally) in 1994 alone, mostly to the Netherlands (6 Beilfuss, R.D., Dodman, T. and Urban, E.K. (2007). The status of cranes in Africa in 239395. Ostrich. 78(2): 175-184. Close ). Collisions with electricity infrastructure may be a significant (but as yet unquantified) problem in some areas (8 Smallie, J. and Virani, M.Z. (2010). A preliminary assessment of the potential risks from electrical infrastructure to large birds in Kenya. Scopus. 30(1): 32-39. Close ). Species protected by law in most range countries. Several surveys undertaken at local level. In 1992, International Conference on the Black Crowned Crane and Its Wetlands Habitat in West and Central Africa was held in Nigeria, and a Black Crowned Crane Co-ordinating Centre was established. Several range countries prepared crane and wetland action plans at 1993 African Crane and Wetland Training Workshop. Locally, floodplain rehabilitation has had a positive effect on numbers of this species (9 Scholte, P., de Kort, S. and van Weerd, M. (2000). Floodplain rehabilitation in Far North Cameroon: expected impact on bird life. Ostrich. 71(1): 112-117. Close ). Reintroductions of subspecies <em>pavonina</em> currently under consideration; several releases have taken place on an experimental basis.