The Story
I photographed this Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis) in flight at the Zhangye National Wetland Park in Zhangye, Gansu, China on March 28, 2018. 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. It is a large Northeast Asian crane and one of the rarest cranes in the world. IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable. The wetland park was set up for wetland restoration, wildlife conservation and ecotourism, with reed beds and constructed lakes in its inner area.
I used a Pentax K-1 and the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW for this one, at 1/4000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. The wetland’s managers are working to restore habitat that farming and falling water tables have degraded.
©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