What they like

Quiet. Really quiet. Wet marshes, peat, rough edges and shallow water to sleep in. During the day it likes open spots to forage. Help it by keeping wet areas wet: don’t tightly mow ditch edges, don’t fill in ditches, create shallow wetlands where possible. In farmland: wide wet buffer strips along ditches, mow later, and less activity around wet fields.

Ecological importance

Cranes are indicators of healthy marshland. They eat seeds, tubers, berries, insects and sometimes a mouse or frog. By rooting about they keep the marsh “open” and spread seeds. Chicks need a plentiful table of insects: herb-rich, wet margins make the difference.

When in the Netherlands

Mostly March–April and October–November during migration. Small numbers breed, mainly in quiet raised-bog and marsh areas.

Status

Rare. Breeding population increasing, but vulnerable to disturbance and drying out.