KALI THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE

Well, hello there. Yes, it is I the great patron of the WA Gould League and Herdsman Lake Discovery centre.

 

That’s right, I am the GREAT CRESTED GREBE!

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Feel free to be impressed. I am indeed great, but so is the beautiful crest of black feathers I have upon my forehead.

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I mean, I don’t want to seem conceited or anything. It’s not like I called myself the GREAT crested grebe, but if the shoe fits… The Noongar people actually call me Kali, so you can use that name too if you’d like.

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Anyway, greatness isn’t so important to me as sophistication.

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I am a very smart dresser, as you can see from my chestnut mane of feather and how well they match my brown wings. But I am also a fabulous dancer! When I am selecting a partner, I do so through the art… of dance!

 

My dance partner and I will raise our necks high to one another in a rhythmic display, then we will rise out of the water together, breast to breast, in perfect harmony.

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It’s, it’s, it’s…. well frankly it’s beautiful!

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Once my dance partner and I have chosen one another well will be together forever, I’m a romantic soul.

 

We’ll build our nest together out of sticks, reeds and mud, we’ll incubate our eggs together as our chicks grow inside, and when they’re hatched we’ll take turns carrying them on our backs while the other searches for food, like an adorable floating, baby bird taxi.