The Blue Crane , National Bird Of South Africa and Endangered Species Like Many Other Cranes

The Blue Crane is a light blue-grey, has a long neck supporting a rather bulbous head, long legs and elegant wing plumes which sweep to the ground. It eats seeds, insects and reptiles. Blue Cranes lay their eggs in the bare veld, often close to water. They are quite common in the Karoo, but are also seen in the grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal and the highveld, usually in pairs or small family parties. The Blue Crane has a distinctive rattling croak, 'kraaaarrrk', fairly high-pitched at call, which can be heard from far away. It is, however, usually quiet.The habitat of the Blue Crane is open grass fields or Karoo-like plains with low shrubby bushes. It likes wet parts and lays its two eggs on the ground. It grazes in the field and eats seeds, insects and small reptiles.

Blue Cranes are birds of the dry, grassy uplands which feed on seeds and insects and spend little time in wetlands. They are altitudinal migrants, generally nesting in the upper grasslands and moving down to lower altitudes for winter. Many occupy agricultural areas.

Of the 15 species of crane, the Blue Crane has the most restricted distribution of all. While it remains common in parts of its historic range, and between 10,000 and 20,000 birds remain, it began a sudden population decline from around 1980 and is now classified as critically endangered.

In the last two decades, the Blue Crane has largely disappeared from the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, and Swaziland. The population in the northern Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West Province has declined by up to 90%. The majority of the remaining population is in eastern and southern South Africa, with a small and separate population in the Etosha Pan of northern Namibia. Occasionally, isolated breeding pairs are found in five neighboring countries.

The primary causes of the sudden decline of the Blue Crane are human population growth, the conversion of grasslands into commercial tree plantations, and poisoning: deliberate (to protect crops) or accidental (baits intended for other species, and as a side-effect of crop dusting.

The South African government has stepped up legal protection for the Blue Crane. Other conservation measures are focussing on research, habitat management, education, and recruiting the help of private landowners.
 

The plumage of the Blue Crane is almost entirely pale blue-grey, only the main wing feathers being blue-black; the crown of the head is white, the bill pinkish or ochre and the long legs greyish. What appear to be long tail streamers are in fact elongated wing feathers (the tertial feathers) which trail gracefully to the ground when the bird is standing. Males and females are identical in appearance except that the male has a slightly longer bill.

The Blue Crane has a loud, nasal trumpeting call krraaaarrrk which carries far, but mostly they are silent. The Blue Crane frequents open grassveld or karoo-like plains with low, scrubby bushes, often in moist situations, and also lays its two eggs on the ground. It feeds on vegetation including seeds, insects and small reptiles.

Sources: http://www.wikipedia.com and  South African History Online: www.sahistory.org.za