- Red-crowned Crane is a stately long-legged, long-necked bird whose
immaculate snow-white plumage is accented by black secondary feathers,
a black neck with contrasting white nape, and a red crown
- They stand 1.5 m tall, average 7-10 kg in weight and have a 2.5 m
wing span
- Cranes have specialized vocal adaptations highlighted by an extremely
long trachea that coils within a hollow sternum. They produce a wide
variety of calls ranging from low pitched purrs to the loud unison calls
involved in courtship and pair maintenance. The calls of male and female
cranes differ in pitch
- Red-crowned Cranes prefer to forage in deep water marshes where they
prey on insects, aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians and small rodents.
They also frequent dikes, rice fields, and other croplands where they
feed on waste grains and other plant material
- Cranes are spring breeders, usually nesting in April or May.
- Shortly before laying commences, both sexes participate in constructing
a large ground nest of reeds and grasses in a marshy area, sometimes
completely surrounded by water.
- They female lays two large light brown eggs, liberally spotted with
darker shades of brown.
- Both parents share in the 29- to 34-day incubation.
- The newly hatched chicks are covered in light brown down and are
able to follow their parents almost immediately
- There are two main breeding populations of Red-crowned Cranes: on
the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, and a larger mainland population
that breeds in northeast China and southeastern Russia (sometimes referred
to as the Manchurian Crane
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