Red-crowned Crane

Grus japonensis

The Red-crowned Crane is a beautiful bird known for its striking red crown and long legs. They are graceful dancers and often perform special dances to attract mates.

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

The Red-crowned Crane has striking pure white plumage, contrasted by a black neck and black secondary wing feathers. Its most unique feature is a vibrant patch of bare red skin on its crown, which brightens during mating season. It stands tall on long, dark legs.

KingdomAnimaliaPhylumChordataClassAvesOrderGruiformesFamilyGruidaeGenusGrus

Red-crowned Crane

Interesting facts

A Red-crowned Crane's chick can walk and even swim just hours after hatching!

Some Red-crowned Cranes stay in one place all year, even through freezing cold winters!

These cranes are amazing dancers, performing graceful leaps and bows to find a mate!

They use their long bills to find yummy snacks hidden deep underwater or in mud!

Special abilities

Red-crowned Cranes can produce loud trumpeting calls because their long windpipe coils into their sternum, amplifying their voice for distant communication.

Red-crowned Cranes have broad wings that help them soar effortlessly on air currents, conserving energy during long migratory flights.

Red-crowned Cranes can endure harsh cold winters because some populations are resident, adapting to icy wetlands to find food.

Measurements & details

Length: 100-158 cm
Wingspan: 220-250 cm
Weight: 7-10 kg
Lifespan: 15-20 years
Top Speed: 100 km/h
Clutch Size: 1-3
Incubation: 29-34 days
Migration Distance: 2000 km

Diet & Feeding

These tall birds are omnivores, eating small animals and plants found in wetlands.

Primary Foods

fish
frogs
insects
aquatic plants
seeds
small rodents

Foraging Method

Foraging

Ecological connections

eats

Amur Frog

Rana chensinensis

Cranes hunt these frogs in wetlands.

eats

Oriental Weatherfish

Misgurnus anguillicaudatus

A favorite food, caught with their sharp bills.

eaten by

Red Fox

Vulpes vulpes

Foxes can try to eat crane eggs or young chicks.

eats

Rice

Oryza sativa

Cranes sometimes forage for fallen grains in rice fields.

Traits

Feathered

Feathered describes animals, primarily birds, possessing a covering of feathers.

Social

Social animals live in organized groups, cooperating for survival benefits such as foraging, defense, and raising offspring.

Aerial

Aerial creatures spend a significant portion of their lives airborne, utilizing flight for various activities such as hunting, migration, or nesting.

Colorful

Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.

Herbivorous

This trait characterizes organisms whose diet consists entirely or primarily of plant material.

Longevous

This trait characterizes organisms with an exceptionally long lifespan compared to others of their kind.

Wetland

This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.