Crane - Bird of the World

The year 2020 has been declared the World Year of Cranes by the International Crane Foundation and the Workgroup on cranes in Eurasia. The Union for the protection of birds of Russia has chosen the crane as the Bird of the year 2020 in Russia.

The Amur-Heilong river basin has the largest species diversity of cranes in the world. 6 out of 15 species of cranes that live in the world nest here or meet on the flyway, including some of the rarest ones: the Red-Crowned and Siberian white cranes. Thus, the Southern of the Far East regions are key for the conservation of these rare birds.

Therefore in the regions of the Amur river basin, within the framework of the World Year of Cranes, the Amur branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Amur coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations, Far-East nature reserves and national parks are holding an interregional campaign "Crane-bird of the world".

The purpose of the campaign is to attract the attention of the population and public authorities to the problems of conservation of cranes in North-East Asia, to involve the population in the study of cranes and protection of their habitats. As part of the campaign, it is planned to hold a series of environmental and educational events dedicated to the conservation of Asian cranes: an international contest for children's drawings, a photo exhibition, various festivals of cranes, lectures and classes for students, seminars for teachers, etc.

The Year of Crane has successfully ended!

Cranes of the Amur-Heilong

The Amur Basin is home to 6 of the 15 species of cranes living on the whole planet –

Red-Crowned, White-naped, Siberian white, Demoiselle, Eurasian and Hooded cranes. This is more than anywhere else in the world.

Red-Crowned crane

The largest crane nesting in Russia and one of the largest in the world. Distinctive features are a combination of white and black feathers, a thin neck and legs, the presence of a red "crown" on the head without plumage and a dark "mask" in the front of the head. It breeds in reed grass and sedge swamps, in reeds, in swampy meadows and around large lakes.

Height

up to 170 cm

Wingspan

up to 2,5 meter

Weight

up to 12 kg

White-naped crane

The species is endemic to the Amur-Heilong Basin. It nests only here and nowhere else in the world. The predominant color is grey, the head and neck are white, the cheeks are red with dark edging. One of the species most tolerant of human presence, nesting in wetlands among fields, near settlements and frequently visited by man. It can also nest in burned areas.

Height

135-138 cm

Wingspan

2,3- 2,5 meter

Weight

5-6 kg

Siberian white crane

Easily recognizable by its white plumage, bright red "mask" at the front of the head, and long red beak. When the crane seat it appears completely white, but in flight the black feathers at the ends of the wings are clearly distinguishable. It occurs in the Amur-Heilong basin only during migrations.

Height

up to 137 cm

Wingspan

2 meter and more

Weight

up to 8 kg

Hooded crane

A small crane with black plumage, except for the neck and part of the head, painted white. The second name - "monk crane" - given to this bird for its almost black plumage and stealth - it nests among shrubby thickets in the swampy valleys of remote taiga rivers, also populates waterlogged and overgrown felling and burned forest area.

Height

up to 100 cm

Wingspan

up to 1,5 meter and more

Weght

about 3 kg

Eurasian crane

The most widespread crane in Russia and the second most common species of crane in the world. It has a bluish-gray plumage and rather large size. It prefers to nest in remote swamps, floodplain meadows and along the shores of lakes.

Height

up to 120 cm

Wingspan

up to 2 meter and more

Weight

up to 6 kg

Demoiselle

The smallest and lightest crane. It has a beautiful plumage: bluish-gray and ash-gray. The legs are dark, the feathers on the head and neck are tinged with black. On the bird's head there is a kind of "pigtail" of elongated white feathers, and on the chest there is an "apron" of dark feathers, which is why in Latin this crane is called the "human-like maiden." The only crane that knows how to nest outside of wetlands. It can build nests in steppes, semi-deserts, highlands, salt marshes and even directly on arable land.

Height

no more than 89 cm

Wingspan

about 1,7 meter

Weight

about 2 kg

Which of the cranes is protected by the WWF

The priority species for the WWF in the Amur-Heilong ecoregion are Red-Crowned and White-naped cranes. These species are extremely few in numbers and nest on the territory of Russia exclusively in the Amur river basin.

Red-crowned crane

2800 individuals in the world (1500 of them are on the Japanese Islands, 1300 – in the Amur river basin)

Red-crowned crane nesting range

It consists of several isolated sites in Mongolia, southern Transbaikal, Northeastern China along the Sungari River, in Russia on the Zeysko-Bureinskaya plain, the Arkhara lowland, the southern part of the Jewish Autonomous Region, in the area of Lake Khanka, along the Amur river to Lake Bolon

White-naped crane

4900-5300 individuals

White-naped crane nesting range

It occupies eastern Mongolia and southern Transbaikal, stretches from west to east through the northern provinces of China, reaching the south of the Zeysko-Bureinsky plain and the Arkharinsky lowland, the southern part of the Jewish Autonomous Region and stretches along the Amur river below Khabarovsk and along the Ussuri river to the Prikhankai lowland

Preservation of the red-crowned and white-naped cranes: distinctive dates

1963

The Khingan Reserve has been created – a key nesting place for Red-crowned and White-naped cranes on the territory of the Arkharinsky lowland

1967

Two key protected areas have been created on the Zeysko-Bureinskaya Plain for nesting and stopover on the flyway of cranes – Muravyevsky and Amur nature refuges

1980

A Working Group on Cranes of Eurasia has been established. The primary issue of its work was the state of the population of Red-crowned and White-naped cranes in the Far East and measures to protect these species

1984

The first international aerial survey of nesting pairs of Red-crowned and White-naped cranes in the Far East was conducted with the participation of Russian, Chinese and Japanese specialists

1988

A reintroduction station for rare bird species has been opened in the Khingan Reserve, where eggs of Red-crowned and White-naped cranes obtained from the world's zoos are incubated, chicks are grown and prepared for independent life and released into the wild

1990

The Khankai Reserve was formed, which took under protection the nesting sites of cranes on the Khankaisky lowland

Interesting facts about cranes

Cranes have no sexual dimorphism

Males and females are no different from each other in appearance, except that males are slightly larger

Favorite treat is corn

The favorite food of cranes during migrations is corn grains. In spring and autumn, cranes of various species accumulate in huge flocks in harvested corn fields, where they eat grain that has fallen to the ground during harvesting.

Only one chick survives

In a clutch of cranes, there are usually 2, less often 3 or 1 egg. Only one chick usually survives to adulthood

The main threats to cranes are of anthropogenic origin

Fires destroy cranes habitats and its nests and chicks. Agricultural activity leads to dangerous pollution, regulation of the water regime changes the level of waterlogging of crane habitats.

Amur-Heilong ecoregion is the territory of cranes

The most "crane" places on the territory of the Russian part of the Amur-Heilong are the south of the Zabaikalsky province – the Daurian steppes and the south of the Amurskaya province – the Zeysko-Bureinskaya Plain and the Khingano-Arkharinskaya lowland.

During migrations, up to 2500-3000 individuals of various crane species – Eurasian, White-naped, Red-crowned, and Siberian white - accumulate simultaneously on the territory of the Amursky Nature Refuge.

Home ranges of the AHEC cranes

You can see here different types of cranes: Red-crowned crane, Demoiselle crane, Eurasian crane, Hooded crane, Siberian white crane and White-naped crane (c) A.Serdyuk, I.Ischenko, V. Tyacht, V. Kogan Michael, O. Prosicky

International contest of children drawings "Crane - bird of the world"

The International competition of children's drawings "Crane - Bird of the World" has ended. The children sent their drawings depicting various cranes of Eurasia. You can always get acquainted with the works of young artists on this page of our website.

view the artworks