Red-crowned Crane

Red-crowned Crane (Grus japonensis) is a towering white crane with black secondary feathers, black neck and face and a bare red crown patch. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It feeds on plants and animals in marshes and fields, performing elaborate pair dances and nesting on wetland vegetation. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).