Common crane in Polissia
Grus grus
Red Data Book of Ukraine: rare
The common crane is a tall grey bird with long legs and a long neck. Its head and neck are black with a white stripe, there is a red patch on the crown, and above the tail a lush “bustle” of elongated feathers. In flight it stretches out its neck and legs and flies in a V or in a line.
In Polissia cranes nest in large bogs overgrown with shrubs, in floodplains and in sphagnum bogs within the forest. They can be heard and seen in the Polissia, Rivne and Cheremskyi nature reserves and in Prypiat-Stokhid National Park.
In spring pairs perform courtship “dances”: they leap, bow, spread their wings and call loudly together. The nest is a heap of plants on a tussock in the water. In autumn cranes gather in large flocks on fields before flying south.
The common crane is listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. During the nesting season, from April to June, do not enter bogs where cranes are calling, and watch the flocks on fields from afar so as not to scare the birds.
When to see: March–October; autumn gatherings on fields in September–October
Where it was seen in Polissia
Observations from the open scientific database GBIF since 1990. Locations are shown approximately, to within 10 km.
More in “Birds”
Western capercaillie
Europe's largest forest grouse, a dweller of the old pine forests with bogs in Polissia.
Black grouse
A forest grouse of Polissia's bogs and clearings; the black grouse's spring leks can be heard from afar at dawn.
White-tailed eagle
Polissia's largest bird of prey, with a white wedge-shaped tail, keeping to large rivers and lakes.
Greater spotted eagle
A rare eagle of Polissia's swampy forests and floodplains, one of the rarest birds of prey in Europe.