White crane

White crane

White crane (scientific name: grusleucogranus): it is a large wading bird, slightly smaller than red crowned crane, slightly larger than egret, 130-140 cm in length. When standing, the body is white, the chest and forehead are bright red, the mouth and feet are dark red; when flying, the wing tips are black, and the rest of the feathers are white. The iris is brown yellow, and the mouth and feet are dark red. The feet turned red in the second age and the mouth turned red in the third age.

It lives in open plain swamp grassland, tundra swamp, large lake rock edge and shallow water swamp. During the migration season and winter festival, there are usually dozens or even hundreds of large groups, especially in the midway stops and wintering places. It mainly feeds on the stems and tubers of plants such as Vallisneria, Potamogeton, Carex and water chestnut. It also feeds on the leaves and buds of aquatic plants and a small amount of animal food such as mussels, snails, molluscs, insects and crustaceans. It is distributed in China, India, Iran, Afghanistan and Japan.

On September 28, 2019, the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress was closed. The meeting voted and passed the decision of the Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress on determining white crane as the "provincial bird" of Jiangxi Province, and decided that white crane is the "provincial bird" of Jiangxi Province

(general drawing reference source:)

morphological character

The head and face of white crane are naked, featherless and bright red, with white body feathers, black primary flight feathers, white secondary flight feathers and third flight feathers. The third flight feathers extend into sickle shape, covering the tail and covering the black primary flight feathers. Therefore, the whole body is white when standing, and only the black primary flight feathers can be seen when flying. The young bird has red brown head feathers, white upper body, white lower body and flanks, reddish brown shoulder slate, light base, reddish brown feather margin, bright reddish brown lower back, waist and tail coverings with white feather margin, gray central tail slate, reddish brown feather tip, white base, and black primary flight feathers. The iris is brown yellow, and the mouth and feet are dark red. The feet turned red in the second age and the mouth turned red in the third age.

Measurement of size: weight ♂ 5100-7400 g, ♀ 4900-6000 g; 1300-1400 mm; zuifeng ♂ 177-199 mm, ♀ 162-186 mm; wings ♂ 563-634 mm, ♀ 538-632 mm; cauda 204 mm; tarsometatarsal ♂ 241-258 mm, ♀ 254-262 mm. (Note: ♂ Male; ♀ Female)

Habitat

It inhabits in open plain swamp grassland, tundra swamp, large lake edge and shallow water swamp. White crane is the most specialized crane for habitat requirements, and has strong attachment to shallow water wetland. The eastern populations breed in Yakut, Russia. They do not nest in the Arctic tundra, nor in the coastal estuarine lowlands and river floodplains or highlands. They prefer the lowland tundra, and prefer large areas of fresh water and open vision. The main nesting area in summer is about 82000 square kilometers, and the regular nesting area is no more than 30000 square kilometers.

Life habit

migrate

In China, there are mainly winter migrants and travelers. In autumn, they moved to South China to overwinter from early November to mid November. In spring, they left China to overwinter from late March to early April. From March 20 to April 1, 1985, 652 northward migrants were recorded in Beidaihe, of which 108 were the largest group; from October 11 to November 10, 1986, 192 were recorded in Beidaihe, most of them moved from October 29 to November 20, about 99. In addition to Beidaihe, Momoge, Jilin Province, Panjin, Liaoning Province and other places are stops for white crane migration. At the end of October every year, more than 100 to 200 white cranes can be seen in Momoge, Jilin Province.

The migration route of the Eastern population of white crane has been proved by banding. It is 5100 km from Yakut to Poyang Lake for wintering. It passes through the Yana River, indigilka River and Kerema river basins of Russia. After entering China, the main stops are Zhalong, Lindian, Momoge, Shuangtai river mouth, Luanhe River mouth, the old course of Yellow River and Shengjin Lake. In Momoge, in addition to the fact that some populations of white cranes continue to migrate for a short time, there are still a certain number of individuals who stop here for 30-40 days in spring and autumn. The first appearance date in spring of 1985 and 1986 was March 25, and all of them moved away until May 10. On April 27, 2000, 528 individuals were found. The arrival date in autumn of 1983 and 1984 was September 14, It was found that the average proportion of 3-month-old young cranes was 22.3% in the autumn of 1985 and 1986, which was 8.8% higher than that in the last ten days of December in the wintering area of white cranes in the same period; in the spring of 1985 and 1986, 22 of 126 white cranes were 9-month-old, accounting for 17.5% of the total, which was 4.8% lower than that in the autumn of the same year.

White cranes overwintering in Poyang Lake come in late October and arrive in early November. From December to January of the next year, they are divided into small groups, mainly foraging in the shallow water of the great lake and staying overnight in Benghu lake. From late February to early March, when the temperature reaches above 10 ℃, they gradually integrate into large groups and return to the north. By the end of March, they have all moved away and overwinter for 150 days. During the activity, the family is the main unit, most of them are 21% juveniles, rare are 11% juveniles or 20% juveniles, the sub adults integrate 10-12 small groups to move together; when foraging, the parents also feed the young cranes, until the middle of February next year, the young cranes begin to dig their own mud to feed. In the winter of 1980, researchers from the Institute of zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences first found 91 white cranes in Dahu lake. According to statistics over the years, the number of white cranes wintering in Poyang Lake was close to 4000. It can be considered that more than 90% of the Eastern population of white cranes wintering in Poyang Lake.

habit

During the migration season and winter festival, there are usually dozens or even hundreds of large groups, especially in the midway stops and wintering places. Foraging in shallow water rich in plants, the time of each foraging is about 20 minutes, the mouth and head are often immersed in the water, slowly walking while foraging. Look around from time to time. He is timid and alert. If there is any movement, he will take off immediately. When flying, it forms a "one" or "person" formation.

Food habit

It mainly feeds on the stems and tubers of plants such as Vallisneria, Potamogeton, Carex and water chestnut. It also feeds on the leaves and buds of aquatic plants and a small amount of animal food such as mussels, snails, molluscs, insects and crustaceans.

It is omnivorous in breeding places, including roots, underground stems, buds, seeds, berries, insects, fish, frogs, rats, etc. When the snow covered plant food is difficult to get, it mainly feeds on lemmings and mice; when the temperature is lower than 0 ℃ in the middle of May, white crane mainly eats Cranberry; when the wetland thaws, they eat reed tubers, dragonfly larvae and small fish; in the nesting season, they mainly eat plants, such as Veratrum root, Lithospermum seed, Equisetum bud and iris root and stem. On the way to the south, the white crane foraged for the tender roots of Liriope, Alisma orientalis, Sparganium nigrum, frogs and small fish in the tundra swamp of Daxinganling forest region in Inner Mongolia. In the overwintering Poyang Lake, we mainly dig the underground stems and roots of aquatic plants such as Vallisneria, Potamogeton malayi, Eleocharis tuberosa, Polygonum hydropiper in the underwater mud for food, which accounts for more than 90% of the total food consumption, followed by a small amount of mussel meat, small fish, small snails and gravel.

Distribution range

Distributed in Azerbaijan, China, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.

Possible extinction: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan.

Traveler: Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Korea.

White crane is mainly distributed in China from northeast to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It can be found in Hebei (luanhekou, Beidaihe), Inner Mongolia (Chifeng, Dalai Lake, Xing'an League, Zhelimu League), Liaoning (Shuangtai estuary, Dalian), Jilin (Momoge, Xianghai), Heilongjiang (Zhalong, Lindian), Anhui (Wuchang lake, Shengjin Lake, laizi Lake), Shandong (Yellow River Delta) ）During the winter, sporadic individuals were found in Wafangdian, Liaoning, Yancheng and Dongtai, Jiangsu, Yuyao, Zhejiang, Qingdao, Shandong and Huocheng, Xinjiang. In the world, there are three separate populations of white crane, namely the Eastern population, the central population and the western population; the Eastern population breeds in northeast Siberia and overwinters in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; the central population breeds in the lower reaches of kunovat River in Siberia and overwinters in kradio National Park in Rajasthan state of India; and the western population breeds in Northwest Russia and on the South Bank of the Caspian Sea Winter.

Mode of reproduction

The white crane arrived at the nesting site in late May. At this time, the tundra was still covered with ice and snow. The nest was built on the Bank of an open swamp or on a grassy mound with water depth of 20-60 cm. The nest was simple and crude. The nest was mainly made of withered grass. The nest was flat, with a slight depression in the center. It was 12-15 cm above the water. The nest spacing was 10-20 km, sometimes only 2-3 km. From late May to mid June, each nest lays two eggs. The eggs are dark olive, with dark brown spots on the blunt end. Male and female cranes hatch alternately, but mainly female cranes. The incubation period is about 27 days, and the hatching rate is only 1 / 3. Most young cranes hatch in the last five days of June to the first five days of July, but only one young crane can live to fly The young crane is too aggressive, the weaker one is 1

Chinese PinYin : Bai He