Wattled crane

Physical features

• Wattled cranes are named for the flaps of skin, or “wattles,” that dangle from their chins. Wattles are visible on chicks days after hatching.

• Like other cranes, they have long legs and long necks. They reach heights of about five-and-a-half feet and weigh up to about 17 pounds.

• Their necks and breast feathers are white, while their wings and backs are light grey. Their undersides are a dark charcoal color. Their heads are mostly white with a dark grey crown and a distinct red facial patch that extends from below their eyes down the front of their wattles. Their legs and anisodactyl toes (three pointing forward and one pointing backward) are black.

• Chicks have tawny (yellowish-brown) body plumage.

• They have long, pointy bills which are excellent tools for foraging in tall grass.

• Their secondary (inner wing) feathers are especially long, extending nearly to the ground and giving the appearance of a long tail.

• Wattled cranes are not sexually dimorphic, although males tend to be slightly larger than females.

Diet: Omnivore

• Wild – primarily various aquatic vegetation (rhizomes, sedge roots and bulbs, grass sward and seed); they will also eat grain, seeds, and small aquatic animals (snails, fishes and frogs). Chicks eat insects.

• Zoo – crane pellets, insects (e.g. superworms, mealworms)

Reproduction

• Like other cranes, this species performs an elaborate courtship dance that involves a series of displays such as bowing, arching, stick tossing, vocalizing, head tossing, and jumping. Monogamous pairs mate for life.

• Wattled cranes are winter breeders. In their native range, the breeding season is between July and December with a peak coinciding with floods in August and September. Bonded pairs are highly territorial of their range during the breeding season.

• They nest in shallow wetlands that are permanent in some areas of their range and seasonal in other areas. They prefer areas with minimal human disturbance.

• Nests are constructed from plant material (reeds and sedges) into large mounds about three feet wide and rising about eight inches above the water. Many are surrounded by a small moat of open water.

• Most clutches are only one egg. When two eggs are laid, the parents only raise one and abandon the other egg. In years when food is abundant, both chicks may survive.

• The incubation period is 33-36 days. During the day, the male and female take turns incubating the egg(s). When they change places, they will gently roll the egg(s) to ensure proper embryo development. At night, the female incubates the egg(s) while the male provides protection from potential predators.

• Chicks are precocial, meaning they hatch with down feathers and open eyes and can leave the nest within a few hours. Chicks grow quickly, up to an inch a day.

• The fledging period is about 135 days, but young birds typically stay with their parents for a full year.

• Wattled cranes have both the longest incubation period and the longest fledging period of any crane species. They also have a smaller clutch size than other crane species, which typically produce two eggs. These factors reduce the population’s ability to recover from population declines.

Interpretive Information

• Their wattles can indicate their mood, shrinking if the crane is nervous and elongating if they are excited.

• During non-breeding season, they regularly congregate in groups of 10-50 or more individuals. There have been reports of flocks of up to 1,000 in the Okavango Delta in April-May.

• In the wild, cranes often sleep in shallow water where splashing will alert them to nearby threats. They will tuck their heads under a wing and sometimes stand on only one leg.

• Mated pairs perform a unison call to reinforce their bond and warn other birds to stay out of their territory.

• They are not considered migratory, but they will move around their range based on water availability.

• They often submerge their entire head under water when feeding.

Updated October 2020