This beautiful crane is the national bird of South Africa and has three common names as seen above.

It is a bird of open grasslands and shallow wetlands. Its diet consist of grass seeds and small insects and vertebrates.

The two eggs are laid on the bare ground in short vegetation or on a platform nest of reeds in wetland areas. The chicks are carefully guarded by both parents during the rearing periods.

This crane, like all others, is decreasing in numbers due to human interference.

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