From Opus

Photo by DaninJapan
Arasaki Crane Reserve, Kagoshima, Japan, January 2009

Grus vipio

[edit] Identification

130 cm, 5.6 kg
Adult:

• Dark grey body
• Grey and white striped neck
• Red face patch
• Pinkish legs

[edit] Distribution

Breeds in north-eastern Mongolia, north-eastern China, and adjacent areas of south-eastern Russia. Different groups of the birds migrate to winter near the Yangtze River, the DMZ in Korea and on Kyushu in Japan. They also reach Kazakhstan and Taiwan.

1st Winter
Photo by edenwatcher
Arasaki, Kyushu, Japan, February 2008

Numbers are low with around 4,900 and 5,400 remaining in the wild. A program at Khinganski Nature Reserve raises eggs brought from U.S. zoos to help boost the species numbers.

[edit] Taxonomy

A monotypic species^[1].

[edit] Habitat

Breeding areas are in wet meadows and along lake-sides, in river valleys or lowland steppes.

Migrating and wintering birds use rice paddiefields, mudlflats and agricultural grain fields.

[edit] Behaviour

Courtship display
Photo by Ayuwat J
Arasaki, Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

[edit] Breeding

Nests are mounds of dried sedges and grasses in open wetlands. Two eggs are laid and are incubated by both sexes for 28-32 days. Chicks fledge at 70-75 days.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects, small vertebrates, seeds, roots and tubers, wetland plants, and waste grains.

[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. Animal Pictures Archive
3. Saving Cranes Foundation

• List of references

[edit] External Links