The Brolga is a crane, one of 15 species worldwide, and until recently thought to be the only representative of that family in Australia. Around 1966 another crane species, known as the Sarus Crane, was observed amongst Brolga in Northern Queensland, and since then its population has increased markedly, interbreeding with the Brolga, and thereby posing a threat to its genetic integrity.

One of the largest birds in Australia, standing up to 1.8 metres tall, the Brolga always causes a thrill for anyone lucky enough to see this graceful creature in its natural environment, more so if there is a group of the birds and they are participating in their stately dance; a strange ritual involving much leaping and bowing, all performed, while maintaining time and formation. In the air a wingspan of nearly 2 metres, with its legs and neck extended, makes the Brolga’s flight appear ungainly and almost prehistoric. It is not surprising that farmers commonly find their corpses below power lines, and the possibility of these giant birds coming to grief on the blades of wind turbines is a very real one.

Native Companion was the name by which brolgas were usually know in colonial times and on occasions they can show themselves to be quite unafraid of humans, even coming into town areas in Queensland. The flesh of the bird is supposed to be quite palatable and hunting for the table reduced their numbers in the nineteenth century. They were also considered a pest to grain growers and a shooting season in Victoria was held in the 1880’s.

There are in general three distinct population groups in Australia, the largest being in the tropical north where flocks of 12,000 have been counted. There are a small number of birds in the Riverina, clustered along the Murray and northern Victoria.

In western Victoria, and parts of South Australia, there is a significant Brolga population, the size of which is not really certain, other than is it somewhere around 650. A recent count in 2008 during flocking season tallied a maximum of 601 birds, sparking concern for declining numbers. The recent drought has severely reduced nesting sites, which are always wetland areas. Hard times in the wool industry have seen many farmers reclaiming swampy or inundated country to grow crops on and much nesting habitat has been lost in this way.

While the demands of agriculture and farming enterprise have had a negative impact on Brolgas individual farmers, and their families, are now the key to the survival of the species as most nesting sites are on private property.

On the volcanic plains of Victoria the brolga is known to move across the region in a seasonal manner. The birds gather in what are known as “flocking areas”, permanent freshwater or saline wetlands, during Summer and Autumn. Here they feed on an omnivorous diet of aquatic plants, insects, amphibians, and even small fish, before forming pair bonds and dispersing, in Winter time, to nesting areas that can be many kilometres distant.

Usually two eggs are laid on a rough platform of aquatic vegetation and the tasks of parenthood are shared. Unfortunately they can often prove less than vigilant caregivers and many eggs fall prey to foxes and birds. Along with the rapidly aging population, Brolgas can live for 40 years, the low hatching and fledging rate is factor leading to great concern about the ongoing viability of the species.

Apart from general decline in numbers and habitat the western Victorian population is becoming of increasing focus and importance to conservationist authorities because of the factors mentioned in the opening paragraph of this article.

A concern has been expressed that the Sarus Crane many become the dominant crane species in Northern Australia as a result of its highly successful breeding there. The consequences of interbreeding are considered to pose a definite threat to the viability of a pure Brolga species in the North.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) considers protection of the Victorian population as a “major conservation objective”, and it is listed on the threatened species list of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. In 2006, the DSE sent recommendations to the Pyrenees Shire for Proposed Habitat Protection Overlays in a bid to protect the important breeding areas between Beaufort and Skipton, particularly for Lake Goldsmith, St Marnocks Swamp and numerous other areas, mostly on private land, and much of it in the area of the proposed Stockyard Hill Wind Farm.

Brolgas are the last in a suite of highly distinctive birds that once made the Volcanic Plains their home and since, largely disappeared from the region. The bush thick knee or stone curlew, the plains wanderer, the magpie goose; these are birds that added to the singular landscape of this ecological bio region. Only the Brolga remains and every care should be taken to avoid creating more threats to its existence that what it already faces.