The White-Naped Crane =D

                      Kingdom: Animalia

                   Phylum: Chordata

                        Class: Aves

                             Order: Gruiformes

                                  Family: Gruidae

                                        Genus: Grus

                                            Species: G. vipio

=? How did it get its name? =?

The white-naped crane got it name because it's nape (the back of the neck) is......wait for it.......................white. =3

=? Where does it live? =?

White-naped cranes live (or breed, whichever you want) in northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China, and southeastern Russia.  Also, many of the birds in the eastern part where they breed migrate south past the Korean Peninsula to a Japanese island called Kyushu, outside of a city called Izumi.  See Do they migrate?: for more info.

=? What do they look like? =?

White-naped cranes generally are around four feet tall.  They have pinkish legs and a white striped neck, with a wingspan of I don't know because no one bothers to put up any info on it.  They generally weigh five and six-tenths kilograms, which is twelve pounds but in English it is 5.6 kg, or 12 lbs.

=? IT'S A BOY!!!..........Or is it...XD =?

If you actually want to go out in the wild to look at them, you might want to know which is female or male (or maybe not).  It's going to take a really (and I mean like, really really) good pair of eyes, because white-naped cranes are (and I quote [this is from webpage by the way: http://www.savingcranes.org/whitenapedcrane.html]) virtually indistinguishable.  A (maybe) good way to distinguish between male and female white-naped cranes are when they give each other their loud unison calls.  Both point their bills up to the sky and the female crane starts calling.  Then, the male answers back calling a duet with the female.  This goes on for about ten seconds.  Why do they do this?  They do it so they can mark their territory and strengthen the bond between them (for babies ^^).

=? What kind of environments do they breed in / Habitats =?

White-naped cranes breed in a number of environments.  Quote: "Breeding habitat includes shallow wetlands and wet meadows in broad river valleys, along lake edges, and in lowland steppes or mixed forest-steppe areas." (see link above)

=? Do they migrate =?

White-naped cranes do migrate.  As I said up above, they migrate south to the Japanese island of Kyushu.  As they fly along, a few hundred of them stop for the winter at a place called the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea.  The rest keep going.  White-naped cranes also migrate into China for the winter, which is located near the Yangtze River, the Dongtin Lake, the Poyang Lake, and the Shengjin Lake.

=? What do they eat =?

A white-naped crane's diet includes insects, small invertebrates, roots, tubers, wetland plants, and waste grains.  White-naped cranes are omnivores, by the way (just like us! =D).  At the feeding station in Izumi, white-naped cranes eat rice and other grains.  Lastly, in the Han River estuary in Korea and at the Poyang Lake, they dig for the tubers of marsh plants (I think).

=? Is anything going to kill them?! =?

Unfortunately yes.  Due to human ignorance and stupidity (no offense to us humans), the biggest threat to end a white-naped crane's life is habitat loss and land degradation.  The wetlands are being destroyed because of agricultural expansion.  Oh, and by the way?  Those juuust so happen to be where white-naped cranes breed, so you can imagine the kind of stupidity they're dealing with [am i sounding too mean?  I hope that doesn't lower my grade (l_l)].  Another threat is the proposed plan of building a dam (or rather, a series of dams) and poses the biggest threat right now.  Finally, the increasing number and concentration of white-naped cranes at the Izumi feeding station (see above) could lead to a series of disease outbreaks among them.

=? How do they get a mating partner and what do their nests look like? =?

White-naped cranes are known for their beautiful and elaborate courting dances which help strengthen the bond between mating partners (I think that means it is easier for them to make babies ^^).  Quote: "During this graceful display, birds circle each other while leaping and calling, head-bobbing toward one another and bowing with spread wings.  Grasses, sticks or feathers are frequently tossed in the air." (http://m.amp.avai.com/Home/Page/421).  Their nests normally have two eggs that are olive-green and with brown splotches.  The male and female both incubate (that means keep warm, like when chickens sit on their eggs) the eggs for about a month (but mostly the female).

=? How long do they live/ Life cycle =?

This is one of the sad facts of life.  We don't know how long they live in the wild, but we only know that a wild caught white-naped crane lived for 45 years in captivity and was still able to make babies (hehe).

(ALL CREDIT GOES TO THESE WEBSITES: http://m.amp.avai.com/Home/Page/421 AND http://www.savingcranes.org/whitenapedcrane.html)