The Story
On March 28, 2018, I photographed this Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis) at the Zhangye National Wetland Park in Zhangye, Gansu, China. It is named for the patch of bare red skin on its crown, which gets brighter in the breeding season. It is snow white with black secondaries, which can look like a black tail when the bird is standing. In parts of its range it is a symbol of luck, longevity and fidelity. IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable. Zhangye’s wetlands are a stopover on the Central Asian flyway, one of the world’s major bird migration routes.
I used a Pentax K-1 and the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW for this one, at 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400. Wetlands like this one are a stopover for migrating birds in the dry Hexi Corridor, and their protection depends on keeping water in the Heihe.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis) belongs to the family Gruidae (Cranes) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List