The Blue Crane is South Africa's national bird.

And what a surprise we had to suddenly see a real live couple.

The blue crane (Grus paradisea), also known as the Stanley crane and the paradise crane, is the national bird of South Africa. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

Blue cranes are birds of the dry grassy uplands, usually the pastured grasses of hills, valleys, and plains with a few scattered trees. They prefer areas in the nesting season that have access to both upland and wetland areas, though they feed almost entirely in dry areas. They are altitudinal migrants, generally nesting in the lower grasslands of an elevation of around 1,300 to 2,000 m and moving down to lower altitudes for winter.

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Some of you will remember this lovely blue crane sculpture on the farm where I got the live blue cranes now.

What a bonus when we saw them, and in fact my wife pointed them out, as I had my eyes up in the sky.

Here below is a good description of the habits of the blue cranes.

The blue crane is partially social, less so during the breeding season. There is a strict hierarchy in groups, with the larger adult males being dominant. They overlap in range with three other crane species but interactions with these species and other "large wader" type birds are not known. They are aggressively protective of their nesting sites during the nesting season, even attacking innocent, non-predatory animals such as antelope, cattle, tortoises, plovers and the smallest of birds, such as sparrows.

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And oh yes, like most wild animals you don't want to go near their nest.

Humans are also attacked if they approach a nest too closely, with the aggressive male having torn clothes and drawn blood in such cases. Threats to their eggs and chicks include large savannah and white-throated monitor lizards, egg-eating snakes, foxes, jackals, birds-of-prey, meerkats, and mongoose.

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Romeo she said to her husband; That guy is coming closer and you don't have your underpants on, so please, don't bend like that :)

Then I walked around to get them from another angle.

The wind was up and flipping their feathers.

But note that Romeo didn't bend over in my direction again :)

They might look like birds with weak necks but look at how he simply chucked this branch aside.

And finally we left them in peace to enjoy their lives.

So, I invite you to go and look at my resource links to learn more about these fascinating birds. And the most worrying issue is that they are on the endangered species list. Mankind is as usual the guiltiest party, as they destroy the cranes habitats. Reason tells us that the time has come to stop the destruction, especially of the wetland areas, but mankind's ears are blocked, as profits and mammon rule in the mind. Until there is nothing left, then what?

Another big problem is the illegal wildlife trade and nothing is sacred. Rhinos are killed for their horns, small animals are captured and sold and a host of other dark deeds are taking place, as the smuggling syndicates rule. I read some shocking statistics about the stripping of wildlife in Africa and it left me with a very sad heart. Why kill an innocent animal for money? Just doesn't make sense to me.
But, like they say, such is life, and a man must eat.

I hope that you have enjoyed the blue crane images.

And That's All Friends.

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.

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