Nankeen Crane

Nankeen Crane
(Also known as Rufous Night Heron or Nankeen Night-heron)

Nankeen cranes are Australian birds.
They are a reddish colour.
The top of their head and their beak are black.
They live near water.
They eat fish, frogs, and other animals in and near the water.

The Nankeen Crane is a medium- sized bird, in the group of birds called heron. In colonial times, people made clothes from a cotton fabric from China, called nankeen. The colour of the fabric was the same brown as the bird, so the British colonists added the fabric name to the bird's name to help describe it.

Appearance
The wings and upper part of the body are reddish (rufous) and the belly is white. The pointy bill and the crown, or top of the head, are black. In breeding time, two slim white feathers grow from the back of the bird's crown. Size is 56 - 63 cm. The young birds are speckled brown and white.

photograph ©Deanne P. Lewis http://dl.id.au/

Habitat and Distribution (where they are found)
Nankeen cranes are found in most parts of Australia except the centre and on some Bass Strait islands. They are also found in Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Their habitat is freshwater swamps, rivers and creeks.

Behaviours
During the day, the birds roost in trees close to the water and are active at dusk.

Diet
They feed on fish, amphibians, crustaceans, insects, small reptiles and small mammals. They sometimes eat goldfish in garden ponds.

Life Cycle
During September to April, females lay between two and five blue-green eggs in a shallow nest loosely made of sticks. The nest is usually high up in a tree in water. Sometimes a pair nests alone, but some gather in mixed groups that include egrets and cormorants. After about 22 days the eggs hatch, and the young stay in the nest for about 45 days.

Conservation Status
The Nankeen crane is not endangered or threatened.

Information adapted from a text by Michael Dyson, with his permission

If you use any part of this in your own work, acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Thomas, R. & Sydenham, S. Nankeen Crane [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2008)

Updated September 2008 © kidcyber