Wattled crane
| Wattled crane | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Gruidae |
| Genus: |
Grus Gloger, 1842 |
| Species: | G. carunculata |
| Binomial name | |
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Grus carunculata (Gmelin, 1789) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The wattled crane (Grus carunculata) is a large bird found in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. It is often placed in the monotypic genus Bugeranus, though some authorities place it with other crane species in the genus Grus.
At a height of up to 175 cm (5.74 ft), it is the largest crane in Africa and is the second tallest species of crane, after the sarus crane. The wingspan is 230–260 cm (7.5–8.5 ft), the length is typically 120 cm (3.9 ft) and weight is 6.4–7.9 kg (14–17 lb) in females, 7.5–9 kg (17–20 lb) in males. Among standard measurements, the wing chord length is 61.3–71.7 cm (24.1–28.2 in), the exposed culmen is 12.4–18.5 cm (4.9–7.3 in) and the tarsus is 23.2–34.2 cm (9.1–13.5 in). The back and wings are ashy gray. The feathered portion of the head is dark slate gray above the eyes and on the crown, but is otherwise white, including the wattles, which are almost fully feathered and hang down from under the upper throat. The breast, primaries, secondaries, and tail coverts are black. The secondaries are long and nearly reach the ground. The upper breast and neck are white all the way to the face. The skin in front of the eye extending to the base of the beak and tip of the wattles is red and bare of feathers and covered by small round wart-like bumps. Wattled cranes have long bills and black legs and toes. Males and females are virtually indistinguishable, although males tend to be slightly larger.
Juveniles have tawny body plumage, lack the bare skin on the face, and have less prominent wattles.
The wattled crane occurs in eleven sub-Saharan countries in Africa, including an isolated population in the highlands of Ethiopia. More than half of the world’s wattled cranes occur in Zambia, but the single largest concentration occurs in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Wattled cranes are thought to have historically ranged over a much larger area including coastal West Africa. The range has certainly retracted considerably in historical times.
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Wikipedia