Wattled Crane

The Wattled Crane is the largest of Africa's three crane species and one of the tallest flying birds in the world. Its name comes from the pair of long, pendulous white wattles that hang from the sides of its face below the chin, a feature no other African crane shares. The body plumage is mostly slate-grey, offset by a white foreneck and breast and a patch of bare red skin around the face and crown, which is covered in short, bristly black feathers.

Elegant and elongated in shape, the Wattled Crane has long, drooping tertial feathers that trail gracefully over the tail. It is a specialist of large, undisturbed wetlands and is considered a strong indicator of wetland health, since it depends on stable water levels and minimal human disturbance to breed successfully.

Key field marks

• Long, pale, fleshy wattles hanging beneath the chin
• White foreneck and breast contrasting with a slate-grey body
• Bare red skin patch on the face, capped with short black bristly feathers
• Long, drooping white-grey tertial plumes trailing over the tail
• Very tall stature and long dark legs

Similar species

The Blue Crane lacks wattles entirely and is uniformly pale blue-grey with dark, trailing wingtip plumes. The Grey Crowned Crane has a spiky golden crown of stiff feathers and a much more colorful head, quite unlike the Wattled Crane's plain grey head and drooping wattles.

Habitat

Wattled Cranes require large, relatively undisturbed wetlands, floodplains, and seasonally flooded grasslands with shallow water for feeding and nesting. They are especially associated with large river floodplain systems and inland deltas.

Range and migration

The species occurs in scattered, declining populations across southern and east-central Africa, with strongholds in Zambia's floodplains, Botswana's Okavango Delta, and Ethiopia's highland wetlands, plus a small isolated population in South Africa. It is largely sedentary or locally nomadic, moving in response to changing water levels rather than undertaking long migrations.

Behavior

Wattled Cranes forage by wading in shallow water and probing the mud with their bills for submerged tubers and plant material. Pairs are highly territorial during the breeding season and mate for life, performing bowing and leaping displays.

Voice

A loud, far-carrying trumpeting or bugling call, often given by pairs in duet.

Feeding

Mainly sedge and aquatic plant tubers dug from the mud, supplemented with seeds and small invertebrates.

Nesting and breeding

Nests are built as isolated mounds of vegetation in flooded wetlands, usually holding a single egg. Incubation lasts around 33-36 days, and chicks remain dependent on their parents for an unusually long period among cranes.