Food
Primarily plant material, including seeds of sedges and grasses, roots, tubers and small bulbs. Also a variety of animals including insects, such as locusts and their eggs, grasshoppers, termites and caterpillars, worms, crabs, fish, frogs, reptiles and small mammals. In agricultural areas it feeds on cereal grains such as wheat and maize, and also invertebrate crop pests.
Voice
Loud, guttural ringing calls, often made when flying or in pairs. Typical crane-like honkings.
Blue Crane (Grus paradisea) [XC43468]
by Sander Bot from Fields west of Potteberg Guest House, Bredasdorp, Western Cape, South Africa (call)
Blue Crane (Grus paradisea) [XC515418]
by Frank Lambert from Stompneus Bay Rd, West Coast DC, Western Cape, South Africa (call)
Nest
A pad of wetland vegetation or a layer of small stones, dry vegetation or mammal dung.
Subspecies
Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo) and Blue Crane (Anthropoides paradiseus) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993; AERC TAC 2003) are retained in Gruscontra Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993), Cramp and Simmons (1977-1994) and Collar and Andrew (1988) who all place them in Anthropoides.
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Immature Wattled Crane (Bugeranus carunculatus) which is very much larger, with white on breast and neck.
References
See References.