Grey crowned crane

Introduction: Grey crowned cranes (Balearica regulorem) inhabit dams, pans and marshes as well as lightly wooded areas and fields growing newly planted crops. They roost at night communally in trees, in open shallow water and on overhead power lines.

Distribution: Small populations in and around Etosha National Park and Caprivi.

Diet: Strips grass seeds from stems. Eats leaves, seeds of grasses and sedges, as well as locusts, grasshoppers, worms, crabs and millipedes.

Description: Regulorm is the Latin word for 'of small kings', i.e. 'crowned' referring to their velvety, black forehead and crown.

Breeding: Breeds in marshes, pans and dams with tall vegetation. Nest consist of a mound built by both male and female using marsh vegetation. Females lay between 2 and 4 eggs in March or June with an incubation period of 30 days. Predators include snakes, cattle and humans. Nests are often destroyed by flooding.

Size: 1m.

Weight: 4kg. Males are slightly larger than females.