Grey Crowned Crane is Uganda’s National Symbol
Uganda is the best place to see the magnificent Grey Crowned Crane called Uganda “Crested Crane.”
Grey Crowned Crane is the National Bird of Uganda – The Crested Crane Uganda chose it as its national bird due to its cultural significance and presence in the Country. The bird is considered a symbol of grace, beauty, and uniqueness, and it holds cultural and ecological importance to the people of Uganda. It is often depicted in traditional dances, art, and crafts, and its conservation status has been a matter of concern due to habitat loss and other threats.
The Grey Crowned Crane Crested Crane locally (Balearica regulorum gibberish,s) is Uganda’s national bird. It is a distinctive and iconic bird with significant cultural and symbolic value in the Country.
The Grey Crowned Crane is known for its unique appearance, featuring a crown of golden feathers resembling a crown. Its body is predominantly grey, with a white upper neck, red throat pouch, and long, slender legs. The crane has a graceful and elaborate courtship dance involving bowing, jumping, and flapping, making it a remarkable sight to behold.
In Uganda, the Grey Crowned Crane is highly regarded and protected. It symbolizes beauty, grace, and national pride, representing the Country’s rich biodiversity and heritage. Its image is often used in various art, crafts, and cultural ceremonies. Uganda recognizes the importance of conserving this magnificent bird and has taken measures to safeguard its population and habitat.
It’s worth noting that the Grey Crowned Crane also holds cultural significance in other African countries, such as Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa. However, Uganda is the only Country officially designated as its national bird.
Grey Crowned Crane is the National Bird of Uganda – The Crested Crane
The Grey Crowned Crane, locally known as the Crested Crane, is the National Bird of Uganda. The Grey Crowned Crane is a bird of national
significance to Uganda, occupying a prime position on the Country’s national flag and coat of arms. The Crested Crane has been Uganda’s symbol for nearly 100 years.
The Gray Crowned Crane is a most beautiful bird. The tall bird stands well over three feet on long-slender black legs. Its neck is almost as long as its legs and towards the base. Its pointed pearl-grey feathers are elongated to form an ornamental fringe.
The tail feathers, comparatively short, are the color of dried straw. When at rest, the Crowned Crane seems to be enveloped in a cape of exquisite delicacy with its multi-colored head where the three colors of Uganda’s Flag (Black, Yellow, and Red) seem to be represented. The conspicuous velvety black forehead, yellowish crest, and vivid bright red wattles make the Crested Crane an elegant creature, befitting its symbolic role as the National Bird.
The three colors are representative of African peoples (black), Africa’s sunshine (yellow), and African brotherhood (red being the color of blood, through which all Africans are connected).
The grey-crowned crane is fabled for its gentle nature and was also the military badge of Ugandan soldiers when Uganda was a British Protectorate. The raised legs of the crane symbolize the forward movement of the Country.
The Grey-crowned Crested Crane of Uganda – one of the most beautiful and majestic birds in Africa found in Uganda. This beautiful bird moves in grace in a most stately way with a very dignified gate. If you see the grey-crowned crane in flight, it is lovely to behold with its slow-down strokes of the wings followed by quick flicking upward strokes.
The grey-crowned cranes have a crest crown made up of stiff golden feathers – the sounds of the crested cranes can be heard over a vast distance. Crested Cranes use their substantial bills to dig into the soil in search of roots and bulbs beneath the ground’s surface. One of the most beautiful to behold is the elaborate mating ritual of the gray-crowned crested cranes.
The Mating Dance of the Grey Crowned Cranes is a beautiful display of grace, strength, and power. Excellent for those who can view this ritual as the court of their lifelong partners, and the courting dance is not a one-time event for a pair of cranes – it continues throughout their relationship.
Grey Crowned Crane, the National Bird of Uganda, is under Threat!
At one time, over 50,000 gray crowned crested cranes were found in Uganda to the present number of 20,000. This is due to elimination of their habitats, which often 
border various wetlands. Encroachment, land converted to farming, and villagers building their homes where the Crested Crane formerly dwelt have resulted in fewer grey-crowned crested cranes in Uganda. Even though it is a crime to harm one – since it is the symbol of a Nation – the Pearl of Africa – Uganda, the Grey Crowned Crane’s existence is threatened.
The Grey Crowned Crane is diminishing in numbers due to encroachment, but the wrong beliefs by witch doctors, also called traditional healers in Africa; on top of that, some commercial poachers keep contributing to the decline of the birds in Uganda.
Dead Cranes can be found in the shrines of these witch doctors. The witch doctors falsely believe that consuming the Crested Crane’s eggs would keep relationally troubled couples together because the crested cranes mate for life. Such witch doctors’ practices drastically reduced the number of crested cranes in Uganda.
Love potions of various crested crane parts will keep a relationship together. The crested crane is also seen as a good sign to keep evil spirits away from children. Efforts are underway to change such a wrong mindset about the gray crested crane, protect various habitats, and hopefully, the crested crane will be much more than a symbol on the flag of Uganda.
Grey Crowned Crane is the National Bird of Uganda – The Crested Crane
