Cranes (Gruidae)

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) - HBW 3, p. 83

French: Grue royale German: Südafrikanischer Kronenkranich Spanish: Grulla Coronada Cuelligrís
Other common names: Blue-necked/Royal Crane; East African Crowned Crane (gibbericeps); South African Crowned Crane (regulorum)

Taxonomy: Anthropoïdes Regulorum Bennett, 1834, South Africa.
Formerly considered conspecific with B. pavonina, with species labelled as B. pavonina or sometimes, incorrectly, as B. regulorum; but differences revealed by electrophoresis, together with those in vocalizations, bare parts and plumage, advocate recognition of two species constituting a superspecies. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

gibbericeps Reichenow, 1892 - Uganda and Kenya S to N Zimbabwe and N Mozambique.
regulorum (Bennett, 1834) - S Angola and N Namibia E through Botswana to Zimbabwe, then S to SE South Africa.