Red-crowned Crane

Always glad to help

Hi Xiaoxuan, I have checked my photos and have seen that I have no pictures of the full bird. I had placed it in a map of the common crane along with some other pictures of the commen crane. if I look at the time, when the picture were taken, I can see a big time difference between the pictures of the common crane and the pictures I have posted. Therfore they could have been taken from a different bird. As I looked at your pictures and read your arguments I can only say that you must be right and I will change the name immediately. Thank you for noticing. Looking in to it i have learned a lot of the differences of the two birds.

Sorry, the image links don't work...

try these.. Red-crowned: http://i1.treknature.com/photos/8986/tan...

Common: http://www.birdguides.com/media/large/00...

Do you happen to have a full-body photo then? it could simply appear grey because of lighting or mud seeing that it's basically living in a mud hole...Here's what I mean...here's a red-crowned crane...http://www.cokesmithphototravel.com/image/42714156.jpg...as you can see, the bill to head ratio is roughly 1.5-2 to 1...the bill is greenish-yellow in color...the black on the head and neck are also distinct...the black in the forehead only spreads across the lores and stops at the red fleshy crown which extends well above the eyes. Note, that there is NO black behind the crown...the black on the neck also goes COMPLETELY around the neck...all of these traits are apparent in your photos....the bill in the first and the black in the second...now let's look at a common crane...http://twearth.com/images/cranes/common-crane-e4aca007f16dd212d7a0e7524f14ff7c.jpg...as you can see, the bill to head ratio is MUCH SMALLER...more like 1-1.3 to 1...also, the bill has a slight pinkish tinge to it lacking the distinct green...also, the nostrils are more rounded rather than elongated like in the red-crowned...Now as you can also see, the black on the forehead extends WELL ABOVE the eyes leading to a SMALL patch of red skin located behind the eyes rather than sitting above...the black also EXTENDS BEHIND the red skin which is apparently absent in both of your photos...finally, the black is only present on the front and sides of the neck and NEVER GOES AROUND THE BACK like in your second photo...finally, although this isn't a good indicator, the orange iris of the common crane is apparent even in indirect light while the iris of the red-crowned crane is usually not apparent and is a duller brown color (like in your photos) rather than the bright orange of the common crane...

Thank you for the suggestion on the crane species Xiaoxuan, but this crane was gray and the red-crowned crane is a white bird. So I'm pretty sure it is the Common crane.

Based on the extent of the black and the location of the red...pretty sure this is a red-crowned crane, not a common crane

Thank you Ava, maybe a idea for a mission ;)

Beautiful photo of a "Names the Same" organism: Grus grus.