File:Brolga-1-Healesville,-Vic,-3.1.2008_edit.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
brolga
Sign in to saveAlso known as Grus rubicunda
The brolga (Antigone rubicunda), formerly known as the native companion, is a bird in the crane family. It has also been given the name Australian crane, a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithologist John Gould in his Birds of Australia.
Species
Least Concernvia IUCN
Wikidata facts
- Mass
- 5.663
- Image
- Brolga-1-Healesville,-Vic,-3.1.2008 edit.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- Grus rubicunda
- taxon name
- Grus rubicunda
- Commons gallery
- Grus rubicunda
- taxon common name
- grou-australiano
- wingspan
- 215
- litter size
- 2
- egg incubation period
- 29
- short name
- G. rubicunda
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Article
10 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Distribution and habitat
- Ecology and behaviour
- Diet
- Mating and breeding
- Conservation status
- References
- Cited text
- External links
The brolga (Antigone rubicunda), formerly known as the native companion, is a bird in the crane family. It has also been given the name Australian crane, a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithologist John Gould in his Birds of Australia.
The brolga is a common, gregarious wetland bird species of tropical and south-eastern Australia and New Guinea. It is a tall, upright bird with a small head, long beak, slender neck, and long legs. Its plumage is mainly grey, with black wing tips, and it has an orange-red band on its head. The brolga's courting dance is similar to that of other cranes. The nest is built of wetland vegetation, either on an elevated piece of land or floating on shallow water in marshland, and usually two eggs are laid. Incubation takes 32 days, and the newly hatched young are precocial. The adult diet is omnivorous and includes plant matter, invertebrates, and small vertebrates.