The Crested crane is also scientifically called grey crowned crane but also called the African crowned crane, golden crested crane or East African crane among other names. It belongs to the crane family. Almost like herons, a crested crane has long legs and a long neck weighing 7 pounds. It’s popularly known as a Uganda national bird, because it contains all the three colors of Uganda flag – black, yellow and red.
The crested crane normally lives in the grassy wetlands of Uganda and researchers say that the crested crane can live for up to 22 years on earth. The crested cranes have unique ways of defending themselves against their enemies smartly through hiding in the herds of cattle. Also, they are unique in their own way, by dancing all year round, not like other birds that normally dance during the breeding period which means that the crested cranes love dances.
Crested cranes rarely migrate and they nest in large tall trees to escape from predators. They are said to stay in one place for most of the years and only migrate in search of new homes in cases when their area of residence is depleted or eroded by human activities like encroachment, farming, road constructions, draining of swamps and other activities. Therefore they are endangered bird species in Uganda since their population keeps dropping gradually every year.
They are omnivores and this means that they can feed on both meat and plants. Most omnivorous birds eat seeds, fruits and leaves as well as insects, frogs, warms among others, so even the crested crane do the same. The Crested cranes have as well been spotted eating snakes, fish and aquatic eggs in some parts of Uganda.
Mature female crested cranes normally lay about 2 to 4 eggs in a clutch and the incubation takes about 30 days and after 3 years, the juveniles are considered to be adults, so they can also breed. Female cranes can stay with one partner for a lifetime and thus they practice monogamous marriage. The bond of partnering start when they are still young and grow together, raise their young ones together and live together for the rest of their life. Their love and commitment is way better than that of human beings!
The crested cranes are social birds, and they live in groups of two or more individuals. They eat together. The relationship normally starts at an early age, they care about themselves and also move together. Cranes are threatened by wild dogs and even domestic dogs if they are adopted by humans and this has reduced them in number making them endangered as earlier mentioned. This is the most identified threat to crested cranes.
Not only do crested cranes inhabit areas near water bodies, they also prefer areas that have human gardens near lush valleys and swamps where they can get abundant feeds. This has attracted people’s attention by killing them and others resort to capturing and keeping them at home as pets. They have therefore been reduced in number to only between 58000 to 77000 individuals worldwide.
When to see Crested cranes in Uganda?
Crested cranes can be spotted throughout the year, because of its addiction to nature, most of them live all over the country as long as they are near swampy areas or wetlands. Therefore, depending on your scheduled birding safari in Uganda, you can spot crested cranes in the wild in most areas around Uganda.
Therefore, you cannot miss spotting the crested cranes as our expert bird guides know the best spots to find these lovely and beautiful birds.
