A crane with a gray-and-white neck and pinkish legs.
Adults have a gray-and-white neck, a reddish facial patch, a dark gray body and silvery-gray wings.
At Muraviovka Park in southeast Russia, White-naped Crane breeding was studied in 2011–2012. In 2012, egg laying extended over 25 days. Both parents incubated, exchanging duties an average of 7.3 times a day; incubation lasted 33–35 days. Hatching success per nest was at least 56.3%, and only females brooded the chicks.
The study mapped nest locations and observed parental behavior from April to July 2012. It compared activity during incubation with the chick-care period. Muraviovka Park lies in Russia’s Amur region, among reed and sedge marshes, forest patches and farmland. The park is also a spring and autumn stopover for several crane species.
IUCN Red List · Vulnerable (VU) · Global species-level assessment
The IUCN Red List classifies the White-naped Crane as Vulnerable (VU) with a decreasing population trend. Its 2018 assessment estimated 3,700–4,500 mature individuals worldwide. It identifies wetland loss on breeding and wintering grounds, hunting, disturbance, nest predation and pollution among the threats. In Japan, many cranes winter on the Izumi Plain in Kagoshima. The Ministry of the Environment reports that about 40% of the world population wintered there, based on a 2006 estimate.