Balearica

For the Roman province, see Hispania Balearica.

Balearica
Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Gruidae
Subfamily: Balearicinae
Genus: Balearica
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Ardea pavonina[1]
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Basityto

The bird genus Balearica (also called the crowned cranes or Balearic cranes) contains two extant species in the crane family Gruidae: the black crowned crane (B. pavonina) and the grey crowned crane (B. regulorum).[2]

The species today occur only in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, and are the only cranes that can nest in trees. This habitat is one reason the relatively small Balearica cranes are believed to closely resemble the ancestral members of the Gruidae.

Like all cranes, they eat insects, reptiles, and small mammals.

  1. ^ "Gruidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ITIS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).