Where Do Cranes Live? Body Size and Symbolic Meaning Explained

Cranes are the collective name for birds in the family Gruidae, a group of beautiful and elegant large wading birds distributed across every continent except South America, with the greatest variety found in East Asia. So, where do cranes, birds of the animal kingdom, live? How big can they grow? What do they represent?

1. Where do cranes, birds of the animal kingdom, live?

Cranes mainly inhabit wetlands such as marshes, shallow shoals and reed ponds, feeding chiefly on small fish and shrimp, insects, frogs and shellfish, and mollusks, as well as the roots, stems, seeds and tender shoots of plants. They are skilled runners and fliers and like to live in flocks. When sleeping, cranes often stand on one leg, twist their neck back and rest their head on their back, or tuck their pointed bill into their feathers. In China, cranes are migratory birds. Apart from the black-necked crane and the sarus crane, which live on the Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus, all other cranes live in the north, migrating in late October each year to the Yangtze River basin to overwinter, then flying back north in April of the following year when spring returns.

2. How big can cranes grow?

A crane is about three chi long and also stands a little over three chi tall, with a bill about four cun long. The top of the head, the cheeks and the eyes are red, the legs are bluish, the neck is slender, and the knees are thick while the toes are thin. The feathers on the body are white, while some feathers on the wings and tail are black, and the juveniles are gray. Its piercing call is especially loud and clear.

3. What do cranes represent?

In Taoism, the crane is a symbol of longevity, hence the term immortal crane, and most Taoist sages rode on immortal cranes or divine deer. In Chinese tradition, the passing of an elderly person is described as riding a crane to the west.

In China, Korea and Japan, people often paint the immortal crane together with tall, sturdy ancient pines as a symbol of long life. In fact, the legendary immortal crane is the red-crowned crane.

The red-crowned crane has an elegant temperament and a beautiful form, and is known for the “three longs” of its bill, neck and legs. When standing upright it can reach over one meter tall, appearing to have the bearing of an immortal, and is called the “first-rank bird”, second only to the phoenix in status. In addition, the crane holds a very important place in Chinese culture, closely tied to Taoist immortality and human spiritual character.