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Brolga - BirdForum Opus

Photo by bigbadja
Karumba, north-western Queensland, Australia
Antigone rubicunda

Grus rubicunda

Identification

70-160 cm (27½-60 in); wingspan 200–230 cm (78¾-90½ in)

  • Grey upper and underparts
  • Featherless red head
  • Grey crown
  • Broad red band around back of head
  • Bone bill
  • Black chin wattle
  • Grey legs
Juvenile
Photo by tcollins
Fogg Dam, Northern Territory, Australia, October 2007

Juvenile lacks red band

Distribution

Northern and eastern Australia and Trans-Fly of southern New Guinea

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].
Also placed in the genus Grus.

Habitat

Marshlands, lagoons, floodplains, grassland and dry bushland.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes wetland plants, insects, invertebrates and small vertebrates such as frogs.

Breeding

Both sexes build a raised mound of sticks, grass and plant material, in shallow water on an island. The 2 dull white eggs have reddish brown splotches and are incubated by both parents for about 30 days.

Photo by RMD
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia, May 2005

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Birds in Backyards
  3. BF Member observations
  4. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2016)

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.

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