Chinese National Bird - Red crowned Crane

Chinese national bird, the red-crowned crane is one kind of migratory bird, feeding on fishes, shrimps, seashells and rootstocks of the plants. The shape of the red-crowned cranes is like "-", or "V" while migrating in the sky. The red-crowned crane begins to choose spouses at the beginning of April. The red-crowned crane will accompany its spouse forever once they are matched to be spouses. In China, people usually draw the fairy crane and aged pine trees together to stand for the prolonged ages and longevity. In fact, the fairy crane often appeared often referred in the traditional Chinese poems and drawings refer to are the red-crowned crane.

Interesting & Amazing Facts about Red-crowned crane:

1. The Red-crowned Crane is a stately long-legged, long-necked bird whose immaculate snow-white plumage is accented by black secondary feathers, a black neck with contrasting white nape, and a red crown. 
2. Its white tail feather is covered by long and curly black arching leathers.
3. Especially its naked minium calvaria iscalvarium is like a red cap, thus its name is originated.
4. They produce a wide variety of calls ranging from low pitched purrs to the loud unison calls involved in courtship and pair maintenance. The calls of male and female cranes differ in pitch.
5. Red-crowned Cranes roost overnight in rivers or streams to take advantage of the deeper water for predator defense.
6. Red-crowned Cranes prefer to forage in deep water marshes where they prey on insects, aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians and small rodents.
7. Red crowned cranes are renowned for their spectacular and elaborate courtship dances. During these graceful displays (usually performed in pairs), birds circle each other while leaping and calling, head-bobbing toward one another and bowing with spread wings.
8. Grasses, sticks or feathers are frequently tossed in the air. These dances can be observed throughout the year as the birds continually reinforce their pair bonds.
9. Adult Red-crowned Cranes are named for a patch of red bare skin on the crown, which becomes brighter in the mating season.
10. Male and female red-crowned cranes mature sexually at 3 to 4 years of age, but frequently will take longer to form pair bonds and successfully reproduce. As with all cranes, red-crowned cranes form lifelong monogamous pair bonds.
11. Egg-laying occurs in the early morning hours and two eggs are laid two to four days apart.
12. The clutch is incubated for 29-31 days by both birds.
13.  The female does most of the incubating, with the male on the nest during the middle part of the day.
14. Red-crowned crane belongs to is thunder first-class state protectione national first-class protected animal.
15. They in China inhabit mainly in the Nenjiang River, Song Huajiang River and Wusu Lijiang River in the northeast part of China.

Note:The largest amount of the red-crowned cranes living through the winter in Yancheng of Jiangsu is up to 600 per year, and the Zhalong Nature Protection Area in Heilongjiang is their habitat in spring and summer.