Notes On Demoiselle Cranes (Anthropoides Virgo) In Asia

The Demoiselle Crane is the smallest of the world’s fifteen crane species and, after the Sandhill Crane of North America, is the most numerous. Six population divisions are recognized, with the Mongolian birds part of the Eastern Asia  assemblage (see the   International Crane Foundation web site).   Most of the estimated 200,000 to 240,000 Demoiselles are spread across Eurasia with a small number, less than 50 birds, in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa.  The Black Sea population of far west Asia winters in the Sudd and adjoining areas in northern equatorial Africa, while most central and east Asian birds winter in South Asia.