White-naped Crane

White-naped Crane (Antigone vipio) is a large pale-grey crane with a white hindneck, red facial skin and pinkish legs. 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 breeds in grassy wetlands of northeastern Asia and feeds on tubers, seeds, insects and small vertebrates in marshes and farmland. 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).