White-naped Crane
Antigone vipio
Large and gracefully built crane with long and droopy wing feathers. Adults are pearl-gray with a red face and a white stripe running from the crown down along the back of the neck. Juveniles are similar, but are tinged with brown across their upperparts. Less tolerant of dry fields than Hooded and Common Cranes, and often found in smaller groups.
Taxonomy
The white-naped crane was formerly placed in the genus Grus, but a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that the genus, as then defined, was polyphyletic. In the resulting rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, four species, including the white-naped crane, were placed in the resurrected genus Antigone that had originally been erected by German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853.
- Scientific name
- Antigone vipio
- Authority
- (Pallas, 1811)
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Gruidae
- Genus
- Antigone
Range and habitat
The white-naped crane breeds in northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China, and adjacent areas of southeastern Russia, where a program at Khingan Nature Reserve raises eggs provided from U.S. zoos to bolster the species. Different groups of the birds migrate to winter near the Yangtze River, the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and on Kyūshū in Japan. They also reach Kazakhstan and Taiwan. Only about 4,900 to 5,400 individuals remain in the wild.<p>Its diet consists mainly of insects, seeds, roots, plants, and small animals.<p>Due to ongoing habitat loss and overhunting in some areas, the white-naped crane is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I and II of CITES.In South Korea, it has been designated natural monument 203.
- Breeding range
- PAL : se Siberia, ne Mongolia and ne China
- Non-breeding range
- Korean Pen., s Japan and c, e China (Yangtze River)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rock Pipit
Anthus petrosus
Plumage relatively dull and dark: grayish brown to grayish above with weak darker streaking; dingy whitish below with heavy and rather blurry dark streaking. Also note the dark legs (pink on smaller and buffier Meadow Pipit, which often occurs in coastal grassland adjacent to Rock Pipits). Song is a bland, repetitive, high-pitched series, often accelerating towards the end. Call a high, lisping, slightly harsh "ssiip", very similar to that of Water Pipit. Like other pipits, walks strongly and often pumps its tail a little. Found along rocky coasts; infrequent inland. Often seen on rocks and adjacent areas with short grass.
Moluccan Starling
Aplonis mysolensis
A dingy, entirely blackish starling with a long graduated tail and a dark eye. Juvenile shorter-tailed and browner than adult, with streaks below. Gregarious, often found in noisy groups, occurring in a variety of wooded habitats within the lowlands and foothills. Duller than Metallic Starling, with a dark eye and a shorter tail. Vocalizations include metallic “zip” and whining “weeer” call notes. Song is a bold set of uneven “glee-gloo-glee-gloo” notes.
Barratt's Warbler
Bradypterus barratti
A skulky, dull brown warbler with a long and graduated tail, a pale grayish eyebrow, and a throat that is lightly streaked. It creeps around mouse-like in thick undergrowth and tangles in forest and forest edge. It is also found in isolated pockets of scrub, often adjacent to streams, and is frequently detected and identified by its song, mostly delivered between September and December: 2-3 sweet “tsiit” notes followed by a loud trill of 15-20 harsh “tchui” notes. It also has a strident chipping alarm call “tddd-ddr-ddr-ddr-ddr-tt.” The similar Knysna Warbler differs from Barratt’s Warbler by its shorter tail, darker underparts, less pronounced throat streaking, and different song.
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