The Wattled Crane has an impressive wingspan of 8 feet and a height of around 5 ft, with a white long neck, black undersides and a bare red face with a black ‘hat’. This Omnivorous bird inhabits open wetlands, moist grasslands and floodplains because its main diet consists of aquatic vegetation but it also includes to a lesser extend tubers, seeds, reptiles, frogs and insects. They tend to have a specific courtship dance routine that involves lots of tossing of the head, jumping in the air. But when they find a suitable partner they will then mate and stay with each other their whole life. They tend to live in flocks as pairs and are therefore monogamous. Sadly, they used to live all over sub-Saharan Africa, but are now only found in the Okavango Delta in Botswana as a critically endangered bird.
Courtesy of June West/flickr