Grey Crowned Cranes Balearica regulorum in urban areas of Uganda

Abstract

The greatest threat to birds in tropical Africa is habitat change; often a result of unsustainable agricultural practices (BirdLife International 2013a) and this certainly applies to Grey Crowned Cranes Balearica regulorum, whose primary breeding habitat — seasonal swamps — is increasingly being converted into cultivation and other land uses. Cranes are also caught, often as small young, for the wild bird trade, and to be kept as pets by individuals as well as hotels and other institutions (Muheebwa-Muhoozi, 2001). Less often, some are caught for traditional uses. Cranes typically roost on tall trees, and feed in a wide variety of open habitats, where human disturbance is also increasing. In recent years, cranes have found places to feed, roost and even breed in urban parts of Uganda, where they seem to have adapted to human disturbance.