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The Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) is a bird found in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Wet grasslands in eastern and southern Africa. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, reptiles and frogs and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Endangered.

🏡 Where the Grey Crowned Crane lives

Wet grasslands in eastern and southern Africa.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs40%
• 🦎 Reptiles & frogs20%
• 🌰 Seeds & nuts20%
• 🌿 Leaves & plants20%

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

Conservation status

Hear the Grey Crowned Crane

Recorded by isaac kilusu (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC982990. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Grey Crowned Crane

Where does the Grey Crowned Crane live?

The Grey Crowned Crane lives in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Wet grasslands in eastern and southern Africa.

What does the Grey Crowned Crane eat?

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

Is the Grey Crowned Crane endangered?

Very few are left in the wild. Its IUCN Red List category is Endangered.

More birds from Africa

• Lilac-breasted Roller
• Shoebill
• African Grey Parrot
• Ring-necked dove
• Red-eyed dove
• Egyptian goose

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