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The Common crane (Grus grus) is a bird found in Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Norway, France, Netherlands, and 2 more countries. Wetlands and fields across Europe and Asia. It eats leaves and other plant parts, seeds and nuts and insects and other small invertebrates. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Common crane lives

Wetlands and fields across Europe and Asia.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🌿 Leaves & plants40%
• 🌰 Seeds & nuts20%
• 🐛 Insects & bugs10%
• 🐭 Mammals & birds10%
• 🦎 Reptiles & frogs10%
• 🍎 Fruit10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Common crane

Recorded by Sunny Tseng (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1152286. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Common crane

Where does the Common crane live?

The Common crane lives in Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Norway, France, Netherlands, and 2 more countries. Wetlands and fields across Europe and Asia.

What does the Common crane eat?

leaves and other plant parts (about 40%), seeds and nuts (about 20%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 10%), small mammals and birds (about 10%), reptiles and frogs (about 10%), fruit (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Common crane endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

• European green woodpecker
• Coal tit
• Common greenshank
• Eurasian curlew
• European stonechat
• Black redstart

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.