The order Gruiformes was one of the first to appear in the history of birds, 60 million years ago, at the beginning of the Tertiary era. Taller than the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) or the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), the Common Crane (Grus grus) reaches the height of a ten-year-old child, about 1.20 m. Everything about the crane is slender, its legs, its neck and even its body, which is adorned with a magnificent caudal plume called a “cock’s tail”. Its walk is elegant and its stance proud. Males and females are identical and pairs remain together for their entire lives (26 years on average).