The white-naped crane (Antigone vipio) is a bird in the crane family, Gruidae. It breeds in shallow wetlands and wet meadows in northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China, and adjacent areas of southeastern Russia. It is a large bird measuring 112–125 cm (44–49 in) long, about 130 cm (4.3 ft) tall, and weighing about 5.6 kg (12 lb), with pinkish legs, a grey-and-white-striped neck, and a red face patch. White-naped Cranes breed in northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China and adjacent areas of southeastern Russia. Birds in the western portion of the breeding range migrate south through China, rest in areas on the Yellow River delta and winter at wetlands in the middle Yangtze River valley. Approximately 2,000 birds in the eastern portion of the breeding range migrate south through the Korean peninsula. Several hundred remain on wintering grounds in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. The remainder continues on to the Japanese island of Kyushu, where they heavily rely upon an artificial feeding station located outside the city of Izumi. Habitat loss, especially due to changing hydrology, such as water diversions and the unsustainable conversion and exploitation of wetlands, illegal take including hunting, trapping and poisoning, human disturbance, fire, conversion of grasslands, power line collisions, pollution and environmental contamination, changes in agricultural practices, and disease outbreak at the Izumi Feeding Station in Japan.
During the breeding season, their diet mainly consists of wetland plants, tubers and roots. While wintering or during migration, they will also feed on rice and cereal grains, as well as more waste grain. They will stand in place and dig for the deeper vegetation, which contrasts with the feeding behaviour of the red-crowned crane, which will walk around and pick at the surface vegetation. This difference is important as it allows both species of crane to occupy similar niches, without competition between them. Changes in climate have been affecting the hydrology and quality of their breeding sites: droughts have become more prevalent in wetlands, which impacts their nesting sites. Drier conditions have led to fires which have destroyed nesting sites and breeding sites, as well as eggs and young. The concentration of individuals in their breeding or overwintering sites has increased due to the loss of habitat, and this facilitates the spread of disease and death in their populations. White-naped cranes are an elegant species native to Northern Mongolia, southern Siberia, Korea, Japan and central China. They are slightly smaller than red-crowned cranes. This bird has a white nape and vertical gray stripes on its neck, as well as a distinct red patch surrounding its eyes.
