A large crane that breeds from Europe across northern Asia and winters in southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia and other regions.
Adults have a gray body, red crown, black forehead and throat, and a white stripe from behind the eye to the upper back. Juveniles have cinnamon-brown heads.
Cranes breeding in Germany build ground nests from nearby plants in wet areas and forage in grasslands and fields. They eat insects, grain, acorns and small animals.
In Britain, the usual clutch is 2 eggs. The female incubates, with occasional help from the male, for a typical 30 days.
In Britain, flock members call to each other in flight, and spring courtship dances are accompanied by bugling calls. Nesting birds conceal themselves deep in reedbeds.
The legs are black. Juveniles have a pale gray body and a cinnamon-brown head.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.