Japanese crane  (Grus japonensis)

There are currently two main populations of Japanese crane; one is resident to the Island of Hokkaido in northern Japan and does not migrate (6). The second population breeds in north-eastern China, Russia and Mongolia and migrates to eastern China, and North and South Korea where it spends the winter (1). Recent estimates of the total population of these birds stand at around 2,200 individuals (8).

Japanese cranes are highly aquatic birds. They feed in much deeper water than other crane species; feeding on pasture lands in summer and moving to coastal saltmarsh, rice paddies, cultivated fields, rivers and freshwater marshes in winter (6).