The brolga is the Australian crane famous for elaborate dancing displays and Queensland’s official bird emblem.
Brolgas perform courtship and social dances involving bowing, wing spreading, jumping and tossing vegetation into the air. These displays are among the best-known sights associated with Australia’s wetlands and grasslands, although the birds also dance in other social contexts.
The species lives mainly in northern and eastern Australia, with a separate population in New Guinea. It is a tall, long-legged crane that feeds on roots, tubers, seeds, insects and small vertebrates, depending on habitat and season.
The brolga became Queensland’s bird emblem in 1977. It is sometimes confused with the similar sarus crane, which occurs in parts of northern Australia but is generally larger and has a distinctive red-and-white head and neck pattern.