The Common Crane (Grus grus) appeared 60 million years ago, at the start of the Tertiary era. Taller than the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) and the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), it reaches the size 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 beak, as straight and short as a dagger, can tear up grass, sting an insect, snatch a rodent, or dig for a larva. Male and female are alike at any age. The dominant shade is ash grey, tinged with brown on the back.