17. Grey-crowned Crane This is a truly ‘iconic’ bird, the national bird of Uganda. It’s certainly there in Uganda but also most of Kenya except the far north and north-east, and the south-east. The strong colours are beautifully combined: black forehead and belly, bright red eyebrow and wattle, grey neck, breast and back, gold and white wing panels and brown tail, and that fabulous gold crown on the back of their heads. The best thing of all, however, is that they dance. Part of their courtship ritual involves bowing their crowned heads gracefully to each other, exchanging the quickest of ‘kisses’, and spreading their huge wings – white edged with black – flapping and leaping up, seeming to float up off the ground like ballerinas and then float gently down to earth, all the time singing. Of course, courtship is always a serious business: it is all partly about deterring other males, I imagine, but also about demonstrating strength and agility. It’s good strong genes that the female wants to see. For reproducing those genes is the number one priority for these and all birds, most especially at breeding times of the year. It is literally a matter of life and death. Birds of AFRICAMA House 38 Birds of AFRICAMA House 39