Sighting the Australian Brolga

 We have been away on a long caravan trip around Australia for the last nine weeks. 15,561.9 kilometres in 9 weeks - a long way. Our destination was Queensland on the eastern side of Australia, but regardless if you go over the top of Australia to get there from the south west corner of Western Australia (where I live), or choose to go across the bottom, it is about 5,500 kilometres just to get to Queensland... which is probably why this was our first trip to Queensland. 

Here is a map with the red line showing our track to give you a bit of an idea. We live near the coast in the south west corner. 

Over the next few weeks I plan to share a few pics and experiences. 

Today the Australian Brolga -  Antigone rubicunda - a member of the crane family, and native to northern Australia, and New Guinea.  The Brolga is one of the largest flying birds, standing between 1 and 1.3 m tall (3ft 2”- 4ft 2”). Their wingspans are between 1.7 and 2.4 m (5ft 5” – 7ft 8”). Males are often larger than females. 

I was lucky to get this image below - taken in the caravan park in Longreach in Queensland. I think someone had put down some grain for them. We saw them often around the caravan park - they seemed to be very used to people. We also saw them walking in the street in Longreach! 

When we were in Queensland it was wonderful to see many more Brolgas than we had ever seen before. Previously we had only seen a few birds in the Kimberley and Pardoo in Western Australia. The photo below was taken at Pardoo on the Western Australian Pilbara coast.

When we were in Queensland we saw 100s of them picking in the burnt road verge just south of Normanton near the Gulf of Carpentaria, and also in Longreach, Winton and Charleville. We often saw them in groups of three. I learnt they mate for life and it is usual for a pair to be seen with one or two juveniles.

The plumage of male and female is the same, but juviniles have a paler head.

They have an elegant walk and I learnt that when you point a camera towards them they will turn their back and walk away. Unfortunately I don't have a long birding lens and couldn't always park off the road when we saw them. Here they are walking away.....

Brolgas have an elegant and elaborate courting dance (we were lucky to see this at Pardoo a few years ago). They mate for life, both build the nest, incubate the eggs and care for the young, which stay with them for about a year.

They can live for about 30 years in the wild, but loss of habitat and preditors such as the fox, are a threat.

Brolgas don't migrate but they do move areas based on rainfall. They form large groups following the breeding season.

Here is an image I took at Pardoo of a brolga courting his lady.

We also saw the Sarus Crane - Antigone antigone - at the Mutton Holes Wetland Reserve near Normanton. The Sarus Crane is very similar to the Brolga with a few differences - see the pics below. The red on the head of the Sarus crane extends further down the neck, and the Brolga has a dark dewlap under the chin. The legs of the Brolga are grey to black and the Sarus Crane has pinkish legs. The Sarus crane is a slightly bigger bird.

Unfortunately I don't have a birding lens, and we couldn't always stop on the side of the road when we saw them, so I apologise for the quality of these images. The close up was taken in the caravan park at Longreach. I think someone had put down some grain for them.

For more information on the Brolga you can click below. The link also has a short video. Operation Migration - The Brolga Ultimate Guide

Brolga artpiece - Karumba 

I hope you have enjoyed this little look at the Brolga. I hope to return with more from our trip over the coming weeks.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Saturdays Critters - Viewing Nature With Eileen

Travel Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

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