Grus grus
Britain's tallest bird, lost for 400 years and now dancing across the wetlands again.
Size: 100-130 cm | Habitat: Sea, Marsh, Estuary & Shoreline Birds | Season: All year
A tall, elegant grey bird with a distinctive drooping "bustle" of feathers over the tail, the common crane vanished as a UK breeding bird for around 400 years before a small group settled naturally in the Norfolk Broads in 1979. The Great Crane Project later reintroduced birds to the Somerset Levels, and the UK population has since grown to record numbers.
Very tall, long-necked and long-legged · grey plumage · black-and-white head and neck stripe · red patch on crown · drooping tuft of feathers over the tail · flies with neck outstretched, unlike a heron
Cranes feed on plant roots, seeds, and small animals in wet grassland and arable fields, and are famous for their elaborate courtship "dance" of bowing, leaping, and wing-flapping. They gather in flocks outside the breeding season and are shy, favouring open, undisturbed wetlands.
Common cranes disappeared as a UK breeding species for around 400 years until a handful returned to the Norfolk Broads in 1979 — by 2023 the UK population had grown to a record 80 breeding pairs.
The Common Crane (Grus grus) is Britain's tallest bird, a stately grey species with a distinctive drooping "bustle" of tail feathers, a red crown patch, and a bugling call that carries for miles across open wetland.
Cranes were hunted and drained out of Britain as a breeding species by around the 17th century. A small number resettled naturally in the Norfolk Broads in 1979, and the Great Crane Project — a partnership between WWT, RSPB, and Pensthorpe Conservation Trust — reinforced the recovery by releasing captive-reared birds onto the Somerset Levels between 2010 and 2014.
The recovery has been striking: by 2023 the UK breeding population had reached a record 80 pairs, and cranes are now Amber-listed rather than absent altogether — a genuine conservation success story built on habitat restoration as much as direct reintroduction.
🟠 Conservation status: Amber (UK Birds of Conservation Concern 5)
Amber-listed under BoCC5, reflecting a population that, while recovering strongly, remains small and geographically restricted compared to historic numbers.