Hooded Crane

     The Hooded Crane is a small Crane with a slate-grey body.  It has white head and upper neck, except for a patch of bare red skin above the eye covered with black hairlike bristles. The primaries, secondaries and tail are black, and the legs and feet are nearly black. 

     The Hooded crane breeds in south-central and south-eastern Siberia, and is thought to also breed in north Mongolia. While, over 80% of its population winters at Izumi, in southern Japan. There are also wintering grounds in South Korea and China. 

    Hooded cranes move to the breeding grounds in pairs or small flocks between April and May. The female lays 2 eggs, then both sexes incubate the eggs for 27 – 30 days. Male Hooded cranes defend the nest throughout this time when they aren’t incubating, and the chicks usually fledge after 75 days from hatching. 

     The Hooded crane is one of the smallest cranes, but is still a fairly large bird, at 1 m long and a wingspan of 1.87 m. And they are sexually mature by the age of 3 to 4 years.