gruiform

/grooh"euh fawrm'/, adj. Ornith.

of or pertaining to birds of the order Gruiformes, including cranes, rails, and coots.

[1895-1900; < NL gruiformis, sing. of Gruiformes, equiv. to Gru-, s. of Grus a genus of the order (L grus CRANE) + -iformes -IFORMES]

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▪ bird order

Introduction

  any member of a rather loose assemblage of 12 families of birds that are generally agreed to be related but that differ widely in many aspects. Gruiforms are an ancient group with a rich fossil history, but many families are now restricted in range and few in number. Members of the order occur on every continent, but the only family with worldwide distribution is the Rallidae (rails (rail), gallinules (gallinule), and coots (coot)), with 138 living species. Cranes (crane) (Gruidae) are found on every continent except South America, but many of the 15 species have small populations, some on the verge of extinction. The bustards (bustard) (Otididae), with 26 species, have a wide distribution, limited to the Old World, but hunting pressures and modern agricultural methods have greatly reduced their numbers. The mesites (mesite) (Mesitornithidae), however, are confined to Madagascar and the kagu (Rhynochetus jubatus) to the island of New Caledonia. Other small families in the order, usually assigned to separate suborders, contain the hemipodes (hemipode), or button quails (button quail) (Turnicidae), limpkins (limpkin) (Aramidae), trumpeters (trumpeter) (Psophiidae), finfoots (finfoot) (Heliornithidae), sun bitterns (sun bittern) (Eurypygidae), and seriemas (seriema), or cariamas (Cariamidae). The plains wanderer (Pedionomidae), formerly classified as a gruiform, is now assigned to the order Charadriiformes.

      Although the human impact on them is very great, gruiform birds, because of their scarcity, have a negligible impact on humans. With the possible exceptions of the sandhill crane (Grus canadensis), which descends on the grainfields of the Canadian prairies during the autumn migration, causing some crop damage, and the brolga, or Australian crane (G. rubicundus), which causes similar damage in Queensland, no gruiform can be considered harmful to human interests; some of the larger species, in fact, are hunted for food or sport.

General features

      Gruiform birds (bird) range in size from the tiny button quails (button quail) (Turnix) and miniature rails (rail), such as the North American black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis), which are barely 15 cm (about 6 inches) long, to the stately sarus crane (Grus antigone) of India, which stands nearly 1.6 metres (about 5 feet) high. The enormous kori bustard (Otis kori) and the Eurasian great bustard (O. tarda) may weigh up to 18 kg (about 40 pounds) and are the heaviest modern flying birds. Gruiforms vary widely in structure; some are adapted for life in or near water, others for life on land. Some gruiforms fly well, but a number of species are flightless.

      As a group, the gruiforms are probably best known for their impressive and graceful courtship displays, the most famous of which, the dances of the cranes, are imitated and adapted by many native peoples. The Ainu of Japan have a crane dance in honour of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), and many African peoples imitate the dance of the crowned crane (Balearica pavonina). Less well known but no less spectacular are the striking wing display of the sun bittern (Eurypyga helias) and the strutting and booming of the larger bustards.

Natural history

Ecology

Habitat

      Gruiform birds (bird) live in a variety of habitats, from water and marshes to arid plains. The most aquatic are the finfoots (finfoot) and coots (coot) (Fulica). The former live along slow-flowing streams where heavy overhanging vegetation affords them cover, the latter on more open water. Most rails live in saltwater or freshwater marshes. The limpkin (Aramus guarauna) is essentially a marsh bird; in Florida it inhabits the sawgrass marshes and cypress swamps of the Everglades. Cranes bridge the gap between marsh and dryland birds, nesting in marshes but occurring in open plains and cultivated fields on migration and in winter. The sun bittern prefers wooded muddy riverbanks but also occurs in woods well away from water. Trumpeters (trumpeter), mesites (mesite), the kagu, and some rails live in forest and dense brush. The remaining gruiform families inhabit more-open country: the seriemas (seriema) (or cariamas) of South America favour grassland or hot dusty plains with scattered bushes; the Old World bustards (bustard), button quails (button quail), and the plains wanderer prefer open, grassy plains, although they will accept old pastures and cultivated fields.

Food habits

      Corresponding to the wide variety of habitats utilized by the gruiforms is the great diversity of food taken by them. In general, more animal than vegetable food is taken, but the gruiforms as a group are omnivorous. Coots and gallinules (gallinule) consume much aquatic vegetation. Finfoots live largely on mollusks, frogs, and small fish. The limpkin has a more specialized diet, consisting chiefly of certain large snails, which are broken open at certain favourite feeding stations that contain telltale piles of broken shells. The limpkins' near relatives, the cranes, eat almost any animal food, including rats, mice, moles, lemmings, lizards, snakes, frogs, tadpoles, snails, and a variety of insects. On its wintering grounds in Texas, the whooping crane (Grus americana), an endangered species, lives largely on crustaceans. The sandhill crane includes berries and grass in its otherwise animal diet on the northern tundra and gleans some plant material from old potato and grain fields on its southern wintering grounds. The Asiatic cranes that winter in Japan (such as the hooded crane, Grus monacha, and the white-naped crane, G. vipio) glean grain in rice paddies, and Japanese cranes in Hokkaido are fed corn (maize) by the local farmers. Cranes use their powerful bills for digging in the ground to get at bulbs and roots below the surface, and a similar foraging action has been noted for the gray-necked wood rail (Aramides cajanea) of tropical America, which probes in ground debris, flicking it aside with the bill. Rails as a group, like cranes, are omnivorous, though the bulk of their diet consists of small marsh animals, such as snails, crustaceans, frogs, and water insects. The purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), a vegetarian, often has a feeding platform on which it stands and pulls up the surrounding water plants; it also climbs up reeds and eats the flower heads.

      The other members of the order have a similar mixed animal-and-vegetable diet, though with the emphasis always on the animal side. Captive kagus can eat meat, whereas captive seriemas readily consume it. Bustards are fond of grasshoppers, and their varied diet also includes dung beetles, termites, centipedes, grass, clover, vegetable crops, and even, in Africa, the gum from the trunks of Acacia trees. The sun bittern stalks insects as a heron stalks fish, stealthily approaching its prey with neck drawn in, then grabbing it with a sudden stabbing thrust of the bill.

Reproductive behaviour

courtship

      The breeding cycle of many gruiform birds begins with elaborate courtship rituals and displays (display behaviour). Cranes pair for life, and the strong pair bond that is necessary to maintain this partnership is initiated and continued by a series of displays that, since they often consist of two birds facing each other and leaping into the air, are generally called dances. The ceremony frequently begins as two birds circle each other with a curious formal step, the legs stiff and the head and neck held high. The next action is bowing or “head bobbing,” in which the head is held horizontally with the neck curved down in a U, and in this position the head and neck are bobbed or pumped up and down. One bird may do this while the other bird looks on, or both may do it together. One bird (or both) then turns in a circle on the spot while continuing to bow. The momentum increases until suddenly both birds leap into the air and follow this by dancing. While dancing, the birds often pick up some object from the ground and toss it in the air as they leap. The object is usually something used in nest building, such as a stick, leaf, or tuft of grass, and the action may be related to nest-building drives. Again, while leaping in the air, one bird may turn its back on the other. Another beautiful display involving a pair of cranes is the “duet.” The birds first circle each other with the same formal step that initiates the dance, but, instead of going into the dance, they droop their wings (wing), throw back their heads, and call in unison.

      Although dancing intensifies at the beginning of the breeding season and is doubtless primarily connected with courtship and pair formation, it can occur at any time of year and may have other functions as well. Dancing often seems to be a method of releasing pent-up energy, as when a bird dances on its own or when a dancing pair sets off dancing in nearby individuals of a flock. So strong is the instinctive urge to dance that a five-day-old chick has been recorded as leaping up and down and going through other motions of the dance, even though it had never seen another crane.

      Pair formation in many rails is effected chiefly by voice; males establish territories and defend them vigorously with distinctive songs and calls while at the same time attracting females. Rails produce an amazing variety of noises. In North America, the clapper rail (Rallus longirostris) has a loud cackling call, the sora (Porzana carolina) emits an explosive whinny, and the yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) makes a noise like two small stones being clicked together. In Europe the water rail (Rallus aquaticus) squeals like a stuck pig, and the corncrake (Crex crex) produces a rasp like a heavy comb being drawn over a piece of wood. The gray-necked wood rail greets the dawn with a ringing “pop-tilly, pop-tilly, pop-tilly, ko-ko-ro-ko-ko,” which has given it the local name of cocaleca in Panama. In Africa a large rail, Himantornis haematopus, of the Congo forests makes a pumping sound, and the black crake (Limnocorax flavirostra) in the papyrus swamps makes a curious gurgling sound. The tiny crakes in the genus Sarothrura have a variety of melodious calls, the buff-spotted crake (S. elegans) making a low moaning noise like the sound of a tuning fork. More familiar are the plebeian squawks and grunts of the wide-ranging coots and gallinules.

      Rails also have courtship displays that involve lowering the head, raising the wings, and fanning the tail, often while uttering some special call. Coots and gallinules display their colourful frontal shields and fan their tails to show off the white undertail coverts. Other species circle their partners in various postures. The display often ends with the male chasing the female, and the chase may end in copulation. In button quails the role of the sexes is reversed. The female is the most brightly coloured and courts the male, erecting her tail, puffing out her neck, and running around him while uttering a low crooning note. The male sun bittern selects an open spot, often in a patch of sunlight, where he spreads and raises his tail and wings until they meet in front of his head, exposing elegant patterns of red-brown, olive, gray, and black. In this posture he runs in a circle and may jump up in the air or bob his head.

      In its aggressive display, the kagu stands erect, with the long feathers (feather) of the crest raised, the wings held out from the body, and the tail drooped. In this posture it bounces at the adversary. In a playful mood the kagu will toss sticks and stones around with its bill, in a manner reminiscent of cranes. A captive seriema was seen to run at a tree with head lowered, jerking its tail and giving a short cluck and then striking the tree with both feet. In spring, wild birds have a bustardlike display (see below) accompanied by loud yelping calls.

      Trumpeters, named for their loud, resonant cries, have a cranelike dance that involves strutting around on the ground and leaping into the air. During the breeding season, males of the larger bustards—the great and kori bustards, for example—develop a special pouch in the neck with which they produce loud, booming calls. The Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis) “booms” with a closed beak, producing a sound somewhat like the distant roar of a lion. Special display feathers that grow on the head, neck, and breast are molted after the breeding season. A large bustard in full breeding regalia, with all feathers puffed out, is scarcely recognizable; the head is immersed in an immense ruff, and the wings and tail are raised until they meet over the back, the total effect being that of an enormous feather ball. The ball then struts around in front of a female, who feigns indifference. Smaller bustards have somewhat different displays. The crested bustard (Lophotis ruficrista) of Africa has an aerial display flight in which it rises about 100 feet (30 metres) into the air and then planes steeply back to earth.

Nesting

      Gruiform birds nest both on the ground and in bushes and trees. Of the ground nesters, button quails nest in a grass-lined hollow, often building a domed roof and side entrance. Cranes raise up a pile of vegetation in open shallow water, and the limpkin builds a concealed nest in dense marsh grasses. Marsh-dwelling rails build simple nests of grass and aquatic plants, often in a thick tuft of grass, the blades of which they pull down over the nest to conceal it. The kagu builds a nest of sticks and leaves in a depression in the ground. Bustards scarcely have a nest at all, the eggs being laid on bare ground, sometimes beneath a bush or clump of grass for concealment. Finfoots and the sun bittern prefer a nest site on a branch of a tree, and finfoot nests generally overhang water. Of the two species of seriemas, one (Cariama cristata) nests on the ground, the other (Chunga burmeisteri) in bushes and trees. Trumpeters are variously reported as nesting on the ground and in holes in trees. Mesites place their simple stick nests a metre or two up in a tree. Being flightless, they must always find a site where a connecting series of branches leads from the ground to the nest, enabling them to hop up to it.

      Clutch sizes vary widely within the order, from the single egg of the kagu to over 10 in some rails. Exceptional clutches of 15–20, recorded for some coots and gallinules, may be due to more than one female laying in the same nest. The eggs are usually white or buff, sometimes pale gray or pale green, immaculate in a few species but usually with brown spots or blotches at one end. The incubation period is typically about three weeks, extending to four weeks in the cranes and larger bustards. Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young when hatched in all families except bustards, trumpeters, and button quails. Button quails engage in polyandry (a mating system in which individual females mate with several males), and the tasks of incubation and care of the young are performed entirely by the males. In bustards and trumpeters the female does all the incubating and caring for the young. Young gruiforms are downy—plain black in rails, dark brown in limpkins, and variously patterned in most other groups. They leave the nest immediately or very soon after hatching, except for the sun bittern, seriemas, and bustards, the young of which are cared for at the nest for a short time. There is some evidence that in the trumpeters, which habitually travel in flocks in the adult state, several pairs may pool their young and look after them communally.

molt

      The sequence of molts and plumages (plumage) is very poorly known except in cranes, the young of which have a brown or gray juvenile plumage, with white-tipped or blackish feathers in some species. The juvenile feathers are gradually replaced at each successive molt with the white or gray feathers of the adult, but the last brown-tipped feathers do not completely disappear until about the third summer, when the bird is a little over two years old. Adult cranes, at least those nesting in the North Temperate Zone, molt in two stages; many of the wing and tail feathers are molted in early summer, at which time the birds may be flightless for a while; the rest of the plumage is gradually molted between August and October.

migration and locomotion

      Most gruiforms are nonmigratory. Bustards and button quails migrate locally, following the rains to feed and nest. Only the birds nesting in the North Temperate Zone are true migrants; this group includes many cranes, some rails, and the Eurasian bustards. The spectacular migrations of cranes have excited human interest since the earliest times. The peoples of eastern Asia welcome the return of the cranes as symbolic of the coming spring, and in fall the farmers of Japan welcome the birds back to the rice paddies where they spend the winter. In Japan the cranes return every year to the same traditional wintering grounds, where they are given strict protection. The last remaining whooping cranes in North America are likewise carefully looked after and are counted at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas on their return from their summer habitat in Canada (see whooping crane). Most cranes cover great distances on migration. Sandhill cranes travel 4,000 miles from their nesting areas in Alaska and eastern Siberia to the southern United States, and common cranes (Grus grus) and demoiselle cranes (Anthropoides virgo) cover similar distances in the Old World.

      When the northern marshes freeze over in winter, rails are forced to head south. Amazingly, these birds that fly so weakly across a marsh, with floppy wings and dangling legs, are able to travel thousands of miles each year on migration. The corncrake, nesting in Scotland, may winter in South Africa, and the sora rail of North America regularly crosses 800 miles of ocean to reach Bermuda.

      The Eurasian bustards travel shorter distances, going only far enough to escape bitterly cold weather. Some species form large flocks at migration time. Bustards are great walkers, and local migrations in Africa are for the most part performed slowly on foot.

      Gruiform birds have a predilection for travel on foot. Many only fly when pressed, and some, like the mesites, have become flightless or nearly so. Many oceanic islands have been colonized by rails, which then evolved flightlessness in the absence of predators. The subsequent advent of rats, cats, pigs, or goats on such islands, usually with accidental or intentional assistance from man, has resulted in the extinction of a number of such rails. Rails typically sneak away on foot in thick vegetation, and button quails are equally loath to fly, preferring to walk away with their quick nervous gait, stopping every so often to raise their heads and look around for danger. Trumpeters run fast and can even swim. Finfoots spend most of their life in water and prefer to hide in thick riverside bushes when disturbed, rather than fly. On the ground, gruiform birds move efficiently and even elegantly. The sun bittern walks gracefully with slow precise steps, its neck outstretched. Seriemas run swiftly over the plains. Rails have a very characteristic walk in which the tail is flicked up with each step, and both the limpkin and the kagu share this tail-flicking action. Even such fine fliers as the cranes prefer walking, and there is no more elegant sight in the avian world than a tall and stately crane walking with deliberate and dignified gait across the prairie. In flight, cranes and the limpkin have a characteristic wing action—a slow downstroke followed by a quick, flicking upstroke.

Form and function

   Gruiform birds (bird) vary greatly in shape and size and exhibit a broad range of morphological characteristics. Their plumage is predominantly brown or gray. Some have brightly coloured soft parts, such as the bare red skin on the head and neck of some cranes (crane), used in displays, and the bright red and yellow bills and frontal (forehead) shields of gallinules (gallinule). The crowned crane has a curious crest of stiff golden feathers (feather). The sexes are alike in most groups, except among the button quails (button quail), in which the female is more brightly coloured, and the bustards (bustard), where the males are more colourful.

      The wings (wing) are rounded and often long, although in the nearly flightless mesites (mesite) they are greatly reduced. The length of the tail varies, being proportionately short in button quails, rails (rail), and trumpeters (trumpeter) and rather long in mesites, finfoots (finfoot), and the sun bittern. Cranes have very long inner secondary feathers (those of the inner wing or “forearm”), which extend beyond the end of the tail, giving the impression of a long-tailed bird. The bill is generally long and slender, particularly so in cranes, many rails, and the limpkin, although the seriemas have hooked bills which are doubtless used in tearing up mammalian prey. The legs are rather long, reflecting a preference for walking. The toes vary greatly—in the finfoots and coots (coot) they are lobed for swimming, in rails and the limpkin they are long and slender for walking on lily pads and other aquatic vegetation, and in bustards and seriemas they are short for running on hard surfaces. The hind toe, when present, is usually elevated.

      Some groups have anatomical features peculiar to themselves. The mesites possess five pairs of powder down patches, far more than any other group, and the function of these is uncertain. Cranes and the adult male limpkin have an extremely long trachea, or windpipe, that is coiled in several convolutions. These convolutions of the trachea probably give added power and resonance to the voice, which can carry for distances of a mile or more. Rails have a laterally compressed body, which gives rise to the expression “thin as a rail,” enabling them to sneak between reeds and blades of grass without telltale movements of the vegetation. Most young rails have a claw at the tip of the alula (the “bastard wing” or “thumb”) that enables them to clamber around on marsh vegetation. Finfoots have a sharp spur of uncertain function at the bend of the wing. The kagu, like the mesites and some rails, is flightless, a condition that may lead to its extinction by the dogs, cats, pigs, and rats that were introduced on New Caledonia. Males of great and kori bustards have a gular (throat) pouch during the breeding season that opens into the mouth under the tongue and can be inflated at will. It is used by the birds to produce booming calls during courtship. The Australian bustard has no gular pouch, producing its calls by filling the esophagus with air. The esophagus is similarly used in sound production by the button quails and by rails of the genus Sarothrura.

Evolution and paleontology

      Gruiform birds (bird) have the best fossil record of any avian order, and it stretches back to the Late Cretaceous Epoch, over 80 million years ago. The scattered Southern Hemisphere distribution of relict lineages—finfoots (finfoot), sun grebe, sun bittern, kagu, and mesites (mesite)—suggests a geographical history tied to the breakup of Gondwana.

      Fossil taxa include some fascinating giant species—Diatryma steini (Diatryma) stood about 7 feet (2 metres) tall and had a massive head and bill—but it was in the Eocene, starting about 56 million years ago, that gruiform birds first became abundant. At this time, the first rails (rail), cranes (crane), and bustards (bustard)—the first representatives of the modern families—appeared. In the Oligocene Epoch (about 34–23 million years ago) the limpkins (limpkin) and the suborder Cariamae had their beginnings. The Cariamae are represented today by only two living species, Cariama cristata and Chunga burmeisteri, but their fossil history shows that in earlier epochs they were a more widespread and successful group. The Carimae included a number of flightless giants, the best known of which are several species of Phororhacos from the lower Miocene of Patagonia. These were powerful birds, the largest in excess of 2.2 metres (about 7 feet) in height. The best-known form, P. longissimus, must have been a formidable predator; it had a massive skull 65 cm (26 inches) long and 25 cm (10 inches) high with a hook at the tip of the beak.

      Despite their historical proliferation, the number of gruiform taxa is now on the decline. Of the 12 gruiform families, fully eight are represented by three species or fewer, and four have only a single species. The only one that is at all numerous is that of the rails, with about 130 species. Many gruiform birds appear in the Red List of Threatened Species, published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. By the early 21st century, five of the nine extant cranes were listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, the best-known of these five being the whooping crane. Furthermore, 12 rails were listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, and 18 more have become extinct since about 1600. Many of the extinct rails lived on small islands and a number had become flightless, making them vulnerable to hunting by humans and other animals brought along by them on sea voyages. Nevertheless, the gruiforms had been declining long before humans entered the scene, apparently because the ecological conditions that favoured them in the past are less prevalent in modern times.

Classification

Distinguishing taxonomic features

      The order Gruiformes is a heterogeneous group bound by taxonomic characters that are largely anatomical but not readily evident on the live bird. Few are common to all members of the group, and no single character serves to separate the gruiforms from all other orders. Some of the features that have been used in classifying the order are the condition of the feet and toes; the type of palate, osteologically; the type of pelvic musculature; the number of carotid arteries; the presence (eutaxy) or absence (diastataxy) of the fifth secondary flight feather in the wing; the number of wing and tail feathers; the number of cervical vertebrae; the type of nostrils; the presence or absence of an aftershaft (a small “second feather” attached to the shaft of a body feather); and the behaviour of the young.

Annotated classification

Order Gruiformes

 Primarily marsh-dwelling birds of medium to large size. Toes not webbed (lobed in a few genera). Hallux (hind toe) usually elevated, sometimes absent. 2 carotid arteries usually present. Aftershaft usually present. Crop lacking. Young usually nidifugous (precocious). 11 families and approximately 210 species.

      Family Mesitornithidae (mesites (mesite))

 Superficially dovelike but with characters of order and suborder. Distinguished by reduced clavicles (collarbones) and the presence of 5 powder down patches. Hallux well-developed and functional. 3 species; terrestrial, in forest and dry brush; confined to Madagascar; length 25–27 cm (10–11 inches).

      Family Turnicidae (button quails (button quail))

 Small and quail-like; short legs, no hallux; beak short, slightly downcurved. Unique in the order in having only 1 carotid artery. Principal difference from other suborders is the possession of a well-developed basipterygoid process (a projection at the base of the skull). Female larger and more brightly coloured than male. Eggs roundly oval. Eutaxic. 16 species; in grasslands and brush; southern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia; body length 11–19 cm (about 4–7 inches).

      Family Gruidae (cranes (crane))

 Bill long and straight; neck and legs long; hallux small and elevated. Head usually partly naked in adult. Wing diastataxic. Caudo-femoral muscle present (except in Balearica). 15 extant species; plains and marshes of the world, except South America; length about 79 to 150 cm (31 to 59 inches).

      Family Aramidae (limpkins (limpkin))

 Bill long; neck long and slender; head feathered. Hallux large and functional. Caudofemoral muscle absent. Swamps and marshes of New World tropics and subtropics; 1 species; length 58 to 71 cm (23 to 28 inches).

      Family Psophiidae (trumpeters (trumpeter))

 Bill short. Separated from Gruidae and Aramidae by nostril shape, eutaxic wing, absence of occipital foramina (perforations at the base of the skull). 3 species, in lowland forest of South America; length 43 to 53 cm (17 to 21 inches).

      Family Rallidae (rails (rail), gallinules (gallinule), and coots (coot))

 33 genera, about 138 species; principally in marshes; worldwide; length about 14 to 51 cm (5.5 to 20 inches).

      Family Heliornithidae (finfoots (finfoot))

 Distinguished from all other gruiforms, except coots (Fulica), by the possession of lobed feet, by pelvic muscle formula, by the type of flexor tendons, and by the possession of 18 tail feathers. 3 species; slow-flowing streams in tropical areas of Central and South America, Africa, and India and Southeast Asia; length 30 to 62 cm (12 to 24 inches).

      Family Rhynochetidae ( kagu)

 Large aftershaft; powder downs occurring as scattered groups of feathers. Large operculum (covering flap) over nostrils. Young nidicolous (dependent). 1 species, confined to forested highlands of New Caledonia; length about 56 cm (22 inches).

      Family Eurypygidae ( sun bittern)

 Beak medium length, straight, sharp; neck slender. Tail of medium length. 1 pair of powder down patches. Oil gland nude. 18 cervical vertebrae. Young nidicolous (dependent). 1 species; margins of woodland streams in Central and South America; length about 46 cm (18 inches).

      Family Cariamidae (seriemas (seriema) or cariamas)

 Moderate-sized cursorial birds; legs long, feet small; tail long; beak broad, moderately long, slightly decurved. Forehead and back of neck crested. Distinguishing features in palate structure, talonlike nail on 2nd toe, and type of flexor tendons. 2 species; in grassland and brush, respectively, of east-central South America; length 76 to 92 cm (30 to 36 inches).

      Family Otididae (bustards (bustard))

 Cursorial but strong flying birds of open plains of Eurasia, Africa and Australia; oil gland absent. Scales on tarsus (lower leg) hexagonal; hallux absent. Sternum with 2 pairs of notches. Wing with 11 primary flight feathers. Egg-white protein structure unlike those of other gruiforms. 26 living species; length 37 to 132 cm (about 15 to 52 inches).

Critical appraisal

      The great diversity in the order Gruiformes is reflected in the uncertainty of taxonomists about gruiform relationships. Uncertainties about whether mesites, button quails and limpkins (limpkin), for example, were gruiform or not have been put to rest. The plains wanderer (Pedionomidae) of Australia was removed from its position next to the similar button quails (Turnix) and assigned instead to order Charadriiformes (charadriiform). Conversely, the jacanas (jacana) (Jacanidae) have moved back and forth between the Gruiformes and Charadriiformes; at present they are placed with the charadriiforms along with the painted snipe (Rostratulidae). Furthermore, relationships among the families in Gruiformes remain highly speculative.

G. Stuart Keith Frank Gill

Additional Reading

Lawrence Walkinshaw, Cranes of the World (1973), provides comprehensive coverage; it is brought up to date by Paul A. Johnsgard, Cranes of the World (1983). Robert Porter Allen, The Whooping Crane (1952), is the classic monograph on this endangered species, with a brief descriptive and distributional treatment of the cranes of the world. Walkinshaw's The Sandhill Cranes (1949) contains detailed information on this species. Henry Eliot Howard, A Waterhen's Worlds (1940), is a monograph on the common gallinule or moorhen, with emphasis on behaviour, one of the early classics in ethology. S. Keith, C.W. Benson, and M.P. Stuart Irwin, “The Genus Sarothrura (Aves, Rallidae),” Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 143 (1970), is a study of this genus of African rails, with colour plates of the birds, diagrams of vocalizations, and a general treatment of rail voices. H.T. Hendrickson, “A Comparative Study of the Egg White Proteins of Some Species of the Avian Order Gruiformes,” Ibis, 3:80–91 (1969), contains an exhaustive listing of the taxonomic characters for the order.G. Stuart Keith Ed.

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