Anthropoides paradiseus
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The blue crane (Grus paradisea), also known as the Stanley crane and the paradise crane, is the national bird of South Africa. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. The blue crane is a tall, ground-dwelling bird, but is fairly small by the standards of the crane family. It is 100–120 cm (3 ft 3 in – 3 ft 11 in) tall, with a wingspan of 180–200 cm (5 ft 11 in – 6 ft 7 in) and weighs 3.6–6.2 kg (7.9–13.7 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord measures 51.4–59 cm (20.2–23.2 in), the exposed culmen measures 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) and the tarsus measures 20.5–25.2 cm (8.1–9.9 in). This crane is pale blue-gray in color becoming darker on the upper head, neck and nape. From the crown to the lores, the plumage is distinctly lighter, sometimes whitish. The bill is ochre to greyish, with a pink tinge. The long wingtip feathers which trail to the ground. The primaries are black to slate grey, with dark coverts and blackish on the secondaries. Unlike most cranes, it has a relatively large head and a proportionately thin neck. Juveniles are similar but slightly lighter, with tawny coloration on the head, and no long wing plumes.
Blue cranes are... Wikipedia →
Recording0:09
South Africa · 2024
© kateannie · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:09
South Africa · 2020
© Petro · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:11
South Africa · 2025
© Jeffrey H. Skevington · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 3 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Crane sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 142nd most-seen of the 177 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Crane in Pretoria on a given day, against under 5% in July–October and December–May, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue Crane sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Pretoria, in our data
Pretoria is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Blue Crane sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue Crane is recorded against all the birds logged in Pretoria (17 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
