Red-crowned crane
Grus japonensis (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), also called the Japanese crane or Manchurian crane, is a bird in the family Gruidae and the order Gruiformes. It is a medium-sized, migratory, terrestrial omnivore of wetland habitats, with an adult body mass of 8.8 kg and a wingspan of 2.35 m.
Quick facts about the red-crowned crane
It lays a clutch of 2 eggs once a year, incubates them for 31.75 days and reaches sexual maturity at 3.1 years. The IUCN Red List classifies the red-crowned crane as Vulnerable, a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 738,200 km².
- Weight
- 8.5 kg – 8.79 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 2.2 m – 2.5 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 27.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 40 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 31.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 years – 3.24 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the red-crowned crane?
Photos of the red-crowned crane
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the red-crowned crane live?
Not recorded
What is the red-crowned crane?
The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), also called the Japanese crane and the Manchurian crane, is a large Northeast Asian crane among the rarest cranes in the world. In some parts of its range, it is known as a symbol of luck, longevity, and fidelity.
From the Wikipedia article “Red-crowned crane” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-crowned_crane&oldid=1382881783), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the red-crowned crane endangered?
The red-crowned crane is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.
How is the red-crowned crane classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyGruidae
- genusGrus
- SpeciesGrus japonensis (P. L. S. Müller, 1776)
Synonyms Antigone montignesia, Ardea japanensis, Ardea japonensis, Grus japonensis japonensis, Grus japonicus
Other names and names in other languages (53)
- Japanese craneEnglish
- Manchurian craneEnglish
- كركي يابانيArabic
- كركي منشورياArabic
- كركي أحمر التاجArabic
- Японски жеравBulgarian
- Garan JapanBreton
- grua del JapóCatalan
- Япони тыртняMari
- jeřáb mandžuskýCzech
- garan ManshwriaWelsh
- Japansk TraneDanish
- RotkronenkranichGerman
- Mandschuren-KranichGerman
- MandschurenkranichGerman
- ruĝkrona gruoEsperanto
- Ruĝverta gruoEsperanto
- Grulla manchúSpanish
- Grulla de ManchuriaSpanish
- Grulla JaponesaSpanish
- õnnekurg (jaapani kurg)Estonian
- ÕnnekurgEstonian
- mantsuriankurkiFinnish
- mantšuriankurkiFinnish
- Grue du JaponFrench
- Grue à couronne rougeFrench
- Grue de MandchourieFrench
- Grús deargchorónachIrish
- עגור אדום כתרHebrew
- mandzsu daruHungarian
- Gru della ManciuriaItalian
- タンチョウJapanese
- 丹頂Japanese
- 학Korean
- 두루미Korean
- japoninė gervėLithuanian
- Japānas dzērveLatvian
- Chinese KraanvogelDutch
- japantraneNorwegian
- żuraw mandżurskiPolish
- Grou-japonêsPortuguese
- grou-da-manchúriaPortuguese
- grou-de-coroa-vermelhaPortuguese
- Японский журавльRussian
- žeriav čierno-bielySlovak
- Crvenokapi ždralSerbian
- japansk tranaSwedish
- นกกระเรียนมงกุฎแดงThai
- Japon TurnasıTurkish
- журавель японськийUkrainian
- 仙鶴Chinese
- 丹頂鶴Chinese
- 丹顶鹤Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red-crowned crane
Other species in the same genus Grus.
Common crane
Grus grus
Black-necked crane
Grus nigricollis
Whooping crane
Grus americana
Hooded crane
Grus monacha
Wattled crane
Grus carunculata
CompareRed-crowned crane vs Common craneRed-crowned crane vs Black-necked craneRed-crowned crane vs Whooping craneRed-crowned crane vs Hooded crane
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the red-crowned crane?
The red-crowned crane is a bird in the family Gruidae, order Gruiformes. It is migratory and terrestrial.
How big is the red-crowned crane?
The red-crowned crane has an adult body mass of 8.8 kg and a wingspan of 2.35 m, with wingspans from 2.2 to 2.5 m reported.
What does the red-crowned crane eat?
The red-crowned crane is an omnivore.
Where does the red-crowned crane live?
The red-crowned crane lives in wetland habitats. Its geographic range covers 738,200 km².
Is the red-crowned crane endangered?
The red-crowned crane is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does the red-crowned crane live?
The red-crowned crane has a lifespan of 27.6 years, with values up to 40 years reported.
How many eggs does the red-crowned crane lay?
The red-crowned crane lays 2 eggs per clutch, with 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 31.75 days.
Who named the red-crowned crane?
The red-crowned crane, Grus japonensis, was named by P. L. S. Müller in 1776.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-crowned-crane
“Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-crowned-crane.
@misc{red_crowned_crane_2026,
title = {Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-crowned-crane},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}