Blue Crane (Grus paradisea) — Vulnerable

Blue crane (Anthropoides paradiseus), a pale blue-grey crane with long trailing wing feathers. — Blue crane (Anthropoides paradiseus), South Africa.
Image: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

At a glance

IUCN category: VU · Vulnerable
Animal group: Birds
Population trend: Decreasing
FaunaHub record reviewed: 2026-06-16
Checked against IUCN: Matches source — IUCN's 2021 global assessment of Anthropoides paradiseus says VulnerableChecked 2026-10-09 against IUCN's Red List export published 2026-07-28 · assessment

Conservation overview

The blue crane is a pale blue-grey crane with elegant trailing wing feathers, the national bird of South Africa. It is assessed as Vulnerable.

It is strongly tied to grasslands and farmland.

Range & habitat

Grasslands and farmland of southern Africa, mainly South Africa.

Major threats

Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.

Poisoning (deliberate and accidental)
Collisions with power lines
Habitat change

Why it matters

A national symbol and grassland specialist, the blue crane is a flagship for conserving South Africa's grasslands and reducing power-line and poisoning hazards.

Gallery

A blue crane standing in grassland. — Blue crane (Anthropoides paradiseus).
Image: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Sources for Blue Crane

IUCN Red List — look up Blue Crane (authoritative status)
BirdLife International

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the blue crane look like?

It is a graceful pale blue-grey crane with long, trailing inner wing feathers that look like a sweeping tail, and it stands about a metre tall.

Why is the blue crane Vulnerable?

Published assessments cite poisoning, collisions with power lines, and habitat change across its grassland and farmland range. See the IUCN Red List.