Hooded Crane
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Order: Gruiformes
Family: Gruidae

[Photo] Hooded Crane (Grus monacha). Korean: 흑두루미. Japanese: ナベヅル. Location: 天王寺動物園. Source http://opencage.info/pics/large_6399.asp Copyright OpenCage

The Hooded Crane, Grus monacha is a small, dark crane. It has a grey body. The top of the neck and head is white, except for a patch of bare red skin above the eye. It is one of the smallest cranes, but is still a fairly large bird, at 1 m (3.3 ft) long, a weight of 3.7 kg (8.2 lbs) and a wingspan of 1.87 m (6.2 ft).

The Hooded Crane breeds in south-central and south-eastern Siberia. Breeding is also suspected in Mongolia. Over 80% of its population winters at Izumi, southern Japan. There are also wintering grounds in South Korea and China.

The estimated population of the species is between 9,500 individuals. The major threats to its survival are wetland loss and degradation in its wintering grounds in China and South Korea as a result of reclamation for development and dam building.

The Hooded Crane is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I and II of CITES.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_Crane

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