First record of Eurasian Crane (Grus grus) for British Columbia
By Peter Hamel, Margo Hearne, Martin Williams and Rick Toochin
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Introduction and Distribution
The Eurasian Crane (Grus grus), also known as the Common Crane, is a Eurasian species found breeding from Scandinavia across northern Europe to as far east as northeastern Siberia (Jonsson 1992, Brazil 2009). Eurasian Cranes migrate in the fall from the northern breeding grounds to winter across Eurasia from Iberia and North Africa in the western part of their range to areas such as India in the eastern part of their range (Jonsson 1992, Brazil 2009). The eastern subspecies of Eurasian Crane is (Grus grus lilfordi) and it is this subspecies that is responsible for most western North American records (ABA 2011). The eastern subspecies of Eurasian Crane is found in eastern Asia and breeds in taiga swamps as far north as the Lena River and the Kolyma Rivers in Siberian Russia with a population of birds also breeding in northeastern China (Brazil 2009). Most Eurasian Cranes from the Asian population migrate to the northern half of Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan (Birdlife International 2013). Very small numbers will winter in Burma, Vietnam and Thailand (Birdlife International 2013). Some Eurasian Cranes end up spending the winter in in eastern and northern China, Korea and Japan with the odd bird wintering in Taiwan (Brazil 2009).
In North America, the Eurasian Crane is a casual vagrant that is almost always found in migrating flocks of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadiensis). It is very likely that Sandhill Cranes seen in North America that have the odd Eurasian Crane amongst them originated from a large breeding population found in far eastern Siberia (Brazil 2009, Swick 2013). Since Eurasian Cranes migrate northeast in the spring it is likely that this is when this species overshoots into northern Siberia allowing birds to mix with Sandhill Cranes. In turn these Sandhill Cranes migrate back to winter on the Great Plains of North America (Hamilton et al. 2007, Brazil 2009). This could explain why Eurasian Cranes are almost always found in flocks of Sandhill Cranes and the reason why there are so many records on the central flyway of North America where it is believed Sandhill Cranes from Siberia go to spend the winter (Brazil 2009). Records of Eurasian Cranes in North America are scattered with birds being mostly recorded along the central interior flyway from central Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico and Nebraska (West 2008, ABA 2011). In the western states there are no records for Washington State or Oregon but there are 2 recent records for California and 1 record for Nevada (Wahl et al. 2005, ABA 2011, OFO 2011, Fowler 2012, WBRC 2012, Red Rock Audubon Society 2013). There are other records for Western Canada that follow the central flyway with at 3 records from Alberta and 1 from Saskatchewan (Godfrey 1986, ABA 2011). West Coast records have been of the Asian subspecies which is logical given the closest breeding areas for this species are found in Far Eastern Russia (Brazil 2009). Birds that have been found in eastern areas of North America are of questionable origin (ABA 2011). Birds seen in Indiana and Nebraska have been paired off with a Sandhill Crane and even have had hybrid offspring (ABA 2011). Given that Eurasian Crane tends to wander into North America it is possible this species will occur in British Columbia again in the future.
