Red-crowned Crane

The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), also called the Japanese crane and the Manchurian crane, is a large Northeast Asian crane among the rarest cranes in the world. In some parts of its range, it is known as a symbol of luck, longevity, and fidelity. == Description == Adult red-crowned cranes are named for a patch of red bare skin on the crown, which becomes brighter during the mating season. Overall, they are snow white in color with black on the wing secondaries, which can appear almost like a black tail when the birds are standing, but the real tail feathers are actually white. Males are black on the cheeks, throat, and neck, while females are pearly gray in these spots. The bill is olive green to a greenish horn, the legs are slate to grayish black, and the iris is dark brown. Juveniles are a combination of white, partly tawny, cinnamon brown, and rusty or grayish. The neck collar is grayish to coffee brown, the secondaries are dull black and brown, and the crown and forehead are covered with gray and tawny feathers. The primaries are white, tipped with black, as are the upper primary coverts. The legs and bill…