List of cranes

Cranes are tall wading birds in the family Gruidae. Cranes are found on every continent except for South America and Antarctica and inhabit a variety of open habitats, although most species prefer to live near water.^[1] They are large birds with long necks and legs, a tapering form, and long secondary feathers on the wing that project over the tail.^[2] Most species have muted gray or white plumages, marked with black, and red bare patches on the face, but the crowned cranes of the genus Balearica have vibrantly-coloured wings and golden "crowns" of feathers.^[1] Cranes fly with their necks extended outwards instead of bent into an S-shape (differentiating them from the similar-looking herons)^[3] and their long legs outstretched. They also have musical, long-reaching calls and elaborate courtship displays.^[2]

Different species of crane. Clockwise from top left: blue cranes, sandhill cranes, grey crowned cranes, and red-crowned cranes

Cranes are threatened by habitat loss, intentional hunting, and the wildlife trade.^[1] The Siberian crane, with an estimated population of 3,500–4,000 mature individuals, is considered critically endangered due to the construction of dams that threaten one of its main wintering grounds.^[4] Two other species are considered endangered, seven are considered vulnerable, and one is considered near-threatened. The species with the smallest estimated population is the whooping crane, which is conservatively thought to number 50–249 mature individuals,^[5] and the one with the largest is the sandhill crane, which has an estimated population of 450,000–550,000 mature individuals.^[6]

There are currently 15 extant species of crane recognised by the International Ornithologists' Union distributed among four genera.^[7] The cranes are most closely related to the family Aramidae, which contains a single extant species, the limpkin.^[1][8] These two families, together with the trumpeters, rails, and finfoots, comprise the order Gruiformes.^[7] Many species of fossil cranes are known from the Eocene onwards; however, their exact number and taxonomy are unsettled due to ongoing discoveries.^[9]