Hokkaido, Japan

Two beautiful Red-crowned cranes in flight passing a mountain range. They fly to their roost site at sunset. Two cranes fly from the right to the left in this photograph.

copyright Anette Mossbacher, 17 July, 2023

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This photograph was captured with a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and a lens. The following settings were used:

  • Aperture: ƒ/16
  • Exposure time: 1/15s
  • ISO: 50
  • Focal Length: 600mm

The original photograph has the following dimensions: 4733 by 2662 pixels (WxH).

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Two beautiful Red-crowned cranes in flight passing a mountain range. They fly to their roost site at sunset. Two cranes fly from the right to the left in this photograph. Behind the birds is the blurred background of a mountain range with snow-covered bushes. The motion of the two flying red-crowned cranes you can see in this beautiful art photograph. Both birds have their wings fully spread. Heads and necks are stretched upfront in flight direction, of course. Red-crowned cranes spend their nights on the Hokkaido island on little islands scattered in a river. Indeed, this protects them from predators. Early morning, before sunrise, they start to wake up. They are performing their graceful dance, cleaning their feathers, and greeting each other. Lots of chatting is going on in the mornings. When the first orange sunrise light shines over the mountains, it is time to fly to the feeding grounds.

Red-crowned Cranes One Of The Rarest Cranes

Red-crowned cranes have lifelong partners. Due to the lifelong bond, they show the dance of love together with their partner over many years. A graceful bonding dance indeed. Undoubtedly to experience that dance is a fantastic sight. To take into account their size, they are up to 1.5 meters / 5 feet tall, a wingspan of 2.4 meters / 7.8 feet. In Japan, red-crowned cranes the Japanese see as a symbol of fortune. These cranes are amongst the rarest cranes in the world. Specific conservation efforts brought up the red-crowned crane population on the Hokkaido island, as they indeed face extinction.

The beautiful red-crowned crane, Grus japonensis, is classified as endangered.

If you like the bird photograph above, two Red-Crowned Cranes In Flight, discover our in-flight eagle photographs too. Please visit our Japan wildlife photographs for more. Our fine art nature photographs are for sale of license and photographic prints.

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1 comment for Red-Crowned Cranes In Flight

  1. Thomas

    This photo of the cranes looks absolutely stunning Anette. 👍👍👍

    • Anette Mossbacher

      Many thanks, Thomas. Cheers

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