Siberian Crane

The Siberian Crane is a large, entirely white crane with black primary flight feathers visible only in flight, a bright red face and bill, and pale pinkish legs. It is one of the most endangered crane species in the world, with the vast majority of the remaining wild population belonging to a single migratory flock.

Unlike most other cranes, the Siberian Crane feeds heavily on aquatic vegetation and is closely tied to wetlands throughout its annual cycle, both on its remote Arctic breeding grounds and its wintering areas.

Key field marks

• Entirely white body plumage
• Black primary flight feathers, visible mainly in flight
• Bright red bare skin on the face and a red bill
• Pale pinkish legs

Similar species

The Whooping Crane is similarly white with black wingtips but is found only in North America. The Red-crowned Crane has a black neck rather than an all-white neck, distinguishing it readily from the Siberian Crane.

Siberian Cranes breed on remote, marshy Arctic and sub-Arctic tundra in northern Russia, nesting in extremely isolated wetlands far from human disturbance. The main surviving population, known as the Eastern population, migrates an extraordinary distance to winter almost exclusively at Poyang Lake in China, a critical wintering wetland that supports the vast majority of the world's remaining birds.

Historically, separate Western and Central populations wintered in Iran and India respectively, but both have effectively disappeared, with the Western population reduced to only a handful of individuals and the Central population believed extinct, underscoring the extreme vulnerability of the species.

Siberian Cranes feed mainly on aquatic plants, tubers, and roots, probing in shallow water and mud with their long bill, a diet more herbivorous than that of most other crane species.

They give loud, flute-like calls and perform courtship dances similar to other cranes, though their remote breeding range makes their behavior less studied than more accessible species. Nests are built on the ground in isolated tundra wetlands, typically with two eggs, though usually only one chick survives. The species' extreme dependence on a small number of wintering and staging wetlands, especially Poyang Lake, makes it acutely vulnerable to habitat changes such as dam construction and water level fluctuations.