Japanese crane

Introduction 

Japanese cranes are very interesting birds. I like birds and when I was writing the well-known book, Ben’s ABC Book of Birds with facts, I was learning about the Japanese crane for letter J and I wanted to study more about it.  If you are not a birder, I recommend you do not keep reading this article. It is too much information for you non-birders. If learning about the rarest and most endangered crane interests you, you should keep on reading.  

What is the Japanese Crane? 

The Japanese crane is one type of crane out of many types.  Another name for them is the Red-Crowned crane. You will not see them here in BC.  They live in northern Japan and eastern China. 

Habitat

These cranes regularly live in the pasture land, saltwater marshes, rivers, and freshwater marshes.  They like to make their nests in marshes. They migrate and their wintering grounds are snowy. These cranes will adapt to cold temperatures.  Their prey are frogs, fish, and insects. Their predators are lynxes, red foxes, and badgers.

Appearance

Japanese cranes are white and black.  The reason it is also called the red-crowned crane is because it has red at the top of it’s head which is brighter during mating season.  This is one of the largest cranes. It only weighs 22lbs but it’s the heaviest flying crane.These cranes are 150cm - 158cm. They can live up to 70 years.

Mating and Babies

The japanese cranes do a mating dance. They bow their heads and outstretch their wings and leap up and down not very many birds do that. 

Japanese cranes start laying eggs at 3 to 4 years.  They lay 2 eggs but only 1 usually survives. Nests take about 30 days to build.  Both genders feed the babies. They start to follow around their parents at 3 to 4 months.  Both genders also incubate the eggs for 30 days. 

Other Interesting Facts 

Japanese cranes are the rarest cranes in the world with only 2000 left in Japan. You can find types of cranes on every continent except Antarctica and South America.  The oldest crane ever recorded was 83 years old. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Japanese crane is the most endangered and rare crane.  Another name for it is the red-crowned crane. They live in northern Japan and eastern China.  It is black and white but their babies are brown and furry. It has wild mating dance. The oldest crane was 83 years old.  Now that you have finished this article, you know something about Japanese cranes. What was your favourite part of this article?  Please comment in the comments.