From Opus

Photo by Ingo
Arasaki, Kyushu, Japan, November 2003

Grus monacha

[edit] Identification

1 m long, wingspan 1.87 m
Grey body, top of neck and head white, bare red skin above hazel-yellow eye, legs and toes black.
Sexes alike though male slightly larger.

Juvenile crown is covered with black and white feathers during the first year, with some brownish or greyish wash on their body feathers.

[edit] Distribution

Photo by edenwatcher
Arasaki, Kyushu, Japan, February 2008

Breeds Siberia and Manchuria
Winters to southern China, Korea and Japan

[edit] Taxonomy

A monotypic species^[1].

[edit] Habitat

Breeds in sphagnum bogs, forested wetlands in mountain valleys. Winters on cultivated rice fields and wetlands.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

Nests are made of damp moss, peat, sedge stalks and leaves, and branches of larch and birch. Two eggs are laid and incubated by both parents for 27-30 days.

[edit] Diet

Diet includes aquatic plants, berries, insects, frogs, salamanders, roots, rhizomes, seeds, grass, and small animals.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Wikipedia
3. International Crane Foundation
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links