Cranes of Great Britain
Open-knowledge reference entry
Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes. Two species occur as wild birds in Great Britain: the common crane (Grus grus), a scarce migrant and very localised breeding resident currently being reintroduced to the country, and the sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), an extreme vagrant from North America. A third species, the demoiselle crane (Grus virgo), has been recorded on a number of occasions, but these birds have not generally been accepted as being of wild origin.
A number of other species are kept in captivity, resulting in the possibility of escapees being seen.
Common crane
Historical occurrence
The common crane (Grus grus) is generally believed to have been a breeding bird in Britain in the Middle Ages. English people prized cranes as the "noblest quarry" for a falconer, and gladly ate them. In December 1212 King John flew his gyrfalcons at cranes at Ashwell, in Cambridgeshire, and killed seven, and on another occasion in Lincolnshire in February 1213 he brought down nine. A banquet to celebrate George Neville's enthronement as Archbishop of York in 1465 supposedly included 204 cranes. An Act of Parliament of 1533 included a measure that made the taking of cranes' eggs an offence, punishable by a fine, and there are five mentions in the "Household book of the L'Estrange family" of the supply of cranes for their larder between 1519 and 1533.
Confusion arises about the identity of these birds as the grey heron was, and still is, known as "crane" in many parts of rural England.
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