What the Crane Eats in Nature: Features and Interesting Facts

Cranes are birds, about which songs, poems and children's tales are composed. These are those long-legged handsome men with a narrow long beak, gathering in flocks and issuing flickering sounds in flight, which everyone sees off in the sky every spring and autumn. What the crane eats when in Russia or when wintering in southern countries is described in this article.

Cranes and their types

Family of birds Crested - one of the most ancient on Earth. They appeared in the era of dinosaurs (about 50-60 million years ago) on the American continent, from where they settled first to Asia, then Africa and other continents.

The Crane family includes 15 species, of which 7 live and nest in Russia, many of them are listed in the Red Book. Some species are migratory and migrate with the onset of the cold season, others are sedentary. How to look, where live and what cranes feed in nature - these questions will interest all lovers of such diverse and beautiful birds.

Gray Cranes

These are beautiful large birds (up to 125 cm in height), which live all the warm season in Russia, Europe and North Asia. The habitats of such cranes are very diverse and do not depend on the landscape, but they nest only in swampy terrain. In Russia, these are wetlands in river floodplains, in the forest-steppe and steppe zones - lake basins and meadows covered with water and thickets of reeds.

In Western Europe, cranes usually live in small swamps near the sown fields and not far from people. These birds are omnivorous, and therefore, what the gray cranes eat depends on the season. In summer and spring they eat small animals, mollusks, berries, sprouts of bog plants, various insects and their larvae. In the autumn, cranes, flying over the fields, are fed by sowing crops (wheat, barley, peas and corn), picking up the remaining small potatoes. The most favorite autumn dish is fresh seedlings of winter wheat.

White Crane (Siberian Crane)

Sterkh is a very rare species of the Crane family, listed in the Red Book of Russia. He lives and nests in the tundra in Yakutia and the Tyumen region, and flies to northern Asia for the winter (China, India). It is a long snow-white bird with a red beak, its height is up to 140 cm, the wingspan reaches 2.3 m.

What a white crane feeds on depends on its place of residence: in the tundra on lakes and swamps, it eats small animals (lemmings, mouse-voles), fish and insects, aquatic plants and berries.

Sometimes white cranes rob: steal and eat fresh eggs and even chicks of other birds. During the winter in the Asian countries, they feed on tubers and rhizomes of aquatic plants.

Dancing Japanese Crane

The most beautiful bird of the genus Crane japanese crane, which for many years has been listed as an endangered species in the International Red Book. Disasters for this bird are associated with its habitat - marshes and swampy meadows on the Japanese islands, which are permanently drained by people for the construction of roads and settlements. Occasionally these birds are found in Russia and China.

Frogs, fish, small invertebrates, various insects - that's what the crane feeds on the swamp. This bird is very rare and timid, and therefore it is very difficult to see it.

The appearance of the Siberian Crane is very beautiful: its snow-white feathers pass to the ends of the wings and tail in black, the beak is dark, and on the top is a red cap. For its exquisite beauty, the Japanese consider this bird to be an important symbol in their culture, embodying prosperity and long years of life.

The most remarkable and beautiful in this bird is its magic dances at dawn, when cranes make smooth dance moves. Having dissolved huge wings, the bird then freezes, then jumps, listening to its inner music.

Crane-belladonna

Krasavka is the smallest crane in the world, it numbers up to 200 thousand individuals in various states (countries of Central and East Asia, Mongolia, Russia).

The bellied little growth (up to 90 cm), the trunk is light gray, and the head and neck are black. Behind the eyes are beams of snow-white feathers, beak - yellow, small. The cornea of the eye is an unusual bright orange color.

Unlike other species, the belladonna live in open areas with low grass: steppes, semi-deserts, savannahs. They actively settle and reproduce themselves on arable land near the water (streams, rivers, small lakes, grasslands).

In addition to feeding from grain fields (ears eats whole), lizards and insects, eggs of other nesting birds - this is what the crane-belladonna feeds in the steppe, as well as various seeds and parts of plants.

Nesting crane-belladonna in the steppe right on the ground in a pit, surrounded by branches and droppings. Babies live with their parents for up to 10 months.

American shepherd crane

There are several species of cranes, nesting and living on the American continent. The most original of them is Aram. It is a bird of the family of the cowherd cranes of a small size (about 66 cm) with a brownish-olive-colored plumage, and on the wings, chest and lower neck - thin white strips. Arches are nesting in the tropical forests and swamps of Central, South and North America.

Unlike European species, Aram is a crane that eats shellfish, mostly snails. In search of food, they slowly walk in shallow water, lifting their long legs high, peering into the water and, thanks to their wonderful sense of smell, they find it on the bottom. Grabbing the cochlea, they deftly pull it out of the sink, eat the clam itself, and throw the shell back into the pond.

It is noteworthy that the chicks of arama, on the contrary, eat small snails right along with the sink, swallowing whole. In addition, these cranes consume and plant food: grains and seedlings of cereal crops, berries, in North America also cranberries, roots, tubers of various plants. Of other feeds - insects (water and land), small amphibians and mammals, worms - the diet of American arames is quite extensive in comparison with, for example, what the crane-bell in Europe feeds on.

Crane Indian (antigone)

It is the largest crane in the world - its growth is up to 180 cm. Color is ash gray or with blue, the tips of the wings are black, the beak is green, the head, throat and part of the neck have red skin with prickly setae. Such cranes live in India, Nepal, Pakistan.

Antigone nests build in the forest or in open areas, overgrown with tall grass or bushes, next to the swampy areas. Usually the nest consists of the stems of the plants located on the swamp directly in the water in shallow water or near the pond.

Tubers and bulbs of plants growing in or near water, a little fish and frogs - that's the list of what the antigonant crane feeds on. Most often they walk in shallow water, swarm and dig out from the bottom of various parts of plants.

Unlike other species, the antigone is a sedentary crane that does not migrate with the change of seasons anywhere from its places. Its number is stable, so it does not cause any problems and questions on the part of biologists.

Crane australian (broglga)

This crane is very similar in appearance to its Indian counterpart, differs only in the darker coloring and a small bald patch on the head. Because of this similarity, even experienced ornithologists have confused these two species for quite some time.

Not so long ago, the brogal settled on the large territory of Australia and the islands of New Guinea, but due to the growth of farms and active land reclamation the crane was forced out of its usual habitats. Now there is only a small population of these birds in coastal areas of Australia.

Nesting cranes-brolgas on marshy lowlands, usually flooded with water and overgrown with tall grass and reeds. The main food: rhizomes and tubers of plants growing in the water and nearby, which the birds dig out from the bottom of the pond. They also eat small fishes, bugs, mollusks and amphibians, like to fly for feeding on farmers' fields of rice and corn. All of the above is what the Crane-Bragg feeds on in Australia.

Crane crowned

The name of the crane was received for protruding feathers on the head, forming a golden crown. The main color of the plumage is lead gray, the wings in the upper part are white, and the secondary chestnut-brown color. Under the short beak from below hangs a red "earring" made of leather. The bird is bright and beautiful.

The crowned crane inhabits Africa in marshy lowlands, valleys of large rivers and lakes, sometimes they settle near people. Cranes nest in territories strictly guarded with the help of their dances and screams. The main food in the crowned plants is various parts of plants, seeds, small animals (insects, lizards, etc.) - that's what the crane feeds on the African continent.