Brolga

The Brolga is a large, elegant grey crane found in Australia and southern New Guinea, historically known in folklore as the 'native companion.' It has predominantly pale grey plumage, a bare red head with a distinctive grey-green crown cap, and a small dewlap of loose skin under the chin.

Brolgas are best known for their spectacular group dancing displays, involving synchronized bowing, leaping, wing-flapping, and trumpeting, performed not just during courtship but throughout the year by birds of all ages, making them one of the most celebrated aspects of Australian bird behavior.

Key field marks

• Tall, pale grey body
• Bare red skin on the head, topped by a grey-green crown cap
• Small dewlap of loose skin hanging under the chin
• Long grey-black legs

Similar species

The Sarus Crane, which overlaps in parts of northern Australia, has red skin covering the entire head including the crown (no grey cap) and lacks the throat dewlap; it also tends to have pinker legs. The two species can otherwise look very similar at a distance.

Brolgas inhabit shallow freshwater and brackish wetlands, floodplains, grasslands, and coastal mudflats across northern and eastern Australia, with a smaller population in the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea.

The species is largely resident, though populations in some areas undertake local seasonal movements linked to the wet and dry season cycle, gathering in large flocks at productive wetlands during the dry season and dispersing more widely to breed during the wet season.

Brolgas forage in wetlands and grasslands, digging for tubers with their bill, and also eating grains, insects, and small vertebrates such as frogs. They often forage in pairs, family groups, or large non-breeding flocks depending on the season.

Their spectacular dancing displays, involving synchronized bowing, wing-spreading, jumping, and loud trumpeting calls, are performed by pairs and groups year-round, not only for courtship, and have made the Brolga a cultural icon in Australian folklore and art. Nests are large mounds of vegetation built on the ground in shallow wetlands, typically with two eggs, and both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties.