Is the red on the top of a red-crowned crane's head poisonous? Actually, it has nothing to do with poison

In the summer when I was in middle school, on the way to Huairou for an outing, my family once pointed at two large gray birds flying overhead and told me: "Look, cranes." Looking back now, I realize those so-called "cranes" were just common grey herons.

You can't blame my family for misidentifying them. Cranes and grey herons do look somewhat similar, though cranes seem to have an extra air of elegance. Today's subjectthe red-crowned crane, is just such an elegant bird.

A red-crowned crane courting. Image: Jean-Paul Ferrero / Auscape International

Though the crane's crown is red, it has nothing to do with poison

If you've read martial arts novels, you must know of"crane-top red", a highly toxic poison famous in the martial arts world. In novels it is often described as being extracted and refined from the red part on the head of the red-crowned crane. So what exactly is the relationship between "crane-top red" and the red-crowned crane?

The poison in martial arts dramas might be kept in a "small bottle" like this, but in fact, this is a Qing dynasty crane-top-red snuff bottle. Image: 51bidlive.com

It is believed that the so-called crane-top red is very likely the famousarsenic, whose chemical name isarsenic trioxide(As?O?). Pure arsenic trioxide is a white crystal, but in nature it is often accompanied by various impurities, giving it a blood-like red color. If it has anything in common with the red-crowned crane, I think it ismerely that both have a red appearance。

Arsenic trioxide crystals. Image: vecstone.jp

The crane "immortal" is bald

The red-crowned cranehas black-and-white plumage with a touch of red on its crown, elegant yet with a dash of passion; together withits long legs and long beakand its tall figure, it looks quite like an immortal with a sage-like bearing, hence its name"immortal crane".

A red-crowned crane calling loudly. Image: cyberfox / wikimedia

For thousands of years, the red-crowned crane has long been deeply woven into our culture,and the ancients praised cranes in various forms. In the Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi wrote, "For leisure companionship there is none like the crane; for growing old together, only the qin suits," to express noble aspirations; in the Song dynasty, Su Zhe also wrote, "The crane grows old yet its body remains strong; the swan goose flies and the world watches together," to show that body and mind do not change their original nature.

However, the "immortal crane" is actually bald, hmm... at least it has a "mediterranean" look - the skin on the red part of the red-crowned crane's crown is bare. Image: Markus Varesvuo / NPL / mindenpictures

In many ancient paintings, red-crowned cranes often appear together with pines, the most famous of which isthe painting "Pine and Crane Prolonging Life". In the painting, both the crane and the pine areauspicious symbols of longevity and prolonged life, making it a typical birthday-celebration painting.

Note the hind toe of the "red-crowned crane" in the painting. Image: zihua01.com

However, the combination of pine and crane is actually an artistic creation processed through the artist'simagination - in fact, the red-crowned crane'shind toe is small and set high, and cannot form an opposable grip with the front three toes, so it cannot grasp branches and cannot stand in trees.

Now let's look at the position and form of the red-crowned crane's hind toe in reality. Image: Konrad Wothe / mindenpictures

In reality, red-crowned cranes also do not appear in mountain pine forests; theylike to move about in wetlands. If you see a large gray bird resting on a pine tree in the wild, it is most likely still the "fake crane" I first saw - the grey heron.

Swipe left and right to see the grey heron (Ardea cinerea) on the left and the red-crowned crane on the right. Birds of the Ardeidae family, whether flying in the air or landing on the ground, always like to retract their necks, making them seem a bit shifty (not really); while birds of the Gruidae family mostly stretch their necks straight even when flying in the air. Image: Beijing Xiaoguan; Thomas Marent / mindenpictures

Almost became the national bird

Once, the State Forestry Administration reported the red-crowned crane as the sole candidate for national bird. But the scientific name of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) literally translates as "Japanese crane," which sparked heated discussion at the time. Many people thought it was very awkward that our national bird would carry the name of another country. In the end, the matter of the national bird faded away,and to this day, China still has no official national bird。

Three red-crowned cranes photographed by teacher Xi Zhinong at Zhalong National Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang. Image: Xi Zhinong / mindenpictures

The specific epithet of the red-crowned crane, japonensis, comes from "Japan," and its English name was once Japanese crane. Why is a crane so well known in China called the "Japanese crane"?

It turns out that in 1776, the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller translated and published Linnaeus's famous work Systema Naturae, and announced some newly named species, including the red-crowned crane. Because the Qing government at the time was closed off from the outside world, few people understood that the red-crowned crane had long appeared in Chinese culture, andthe first specimen of the red-crowned crane that Müller obtained came from Japan. According to the naming rules of biological classification, physical specimens may be named after a place name, so the red-crowned crane was called the "Japanese crane."

Red-crowned cranes living in Hokkaido, Japan today. Image: Alastair Rae / wikimedia

Until 1980, when an international crane academic symposium was held in Hokkaido, Japan, Mr. Zheng Zuoxin, an academician of ornithology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed rectifying its name in response to the inconsistent naming of the red-crowned crane, and this was passed at the conference. Thereafter, international academic conferences and literature have used the current name (the English name was changed to red-crowned crane; the scientific name cannot be changed）。

May we see graceful crane dances again

Today, there are a total of 15 species under the family Gruidae,and 9 species are distributed in our country, making it the country with the most crane species。

A family portrait of Gruidae, from left to right: grey crowned crane, demoiselle crane, hooded crane, black crowned crane, blue crane, black-necked crane, sandhill crane, common crane, white-naped crane, brolga, whooping crane, red-crowned crane, Siberian crane, wattled crane, and sarus crane. Image: steora-moonstar / cambrian.me

In the world,the tallestcrane is the sarus crane(Antigone antigone). Some individuals are said to stand over 1.8 m tall - a head taller than me, right? This large, slender bird has been recorded in our country only in western and southern Yunnan, but it has now disappeared for about 30 years, and its conservation status isVulnerable (VU)。

Sarus crane. Image: J.M.Garg / wikimedia

Now let's talk aboutthe smallest crane in the family Gruidae, the demoiselle crane(Grus virgo). Its standing height is only similar to a desk, and I am happy that even the tallest individuals are not taller than me. Despite the demoiselle crane's small size, during autumn migration some individuals even fly over Mount Everest; its seemingly delicate body hides enormous energy. CurrentlyLeast Concern (LC)。

Demoiselle crane. Image: Tomju48 / wikimedia

Back to the red-crowned crane. Now, there are only about 2,700 red-crowned cranes in the world. According to Mr. Jia Yifei, a postdoctoral researcher studying cranes at Beijing Forestry University,the wintering population of red-crowned cranes in China is currently showing a downward trend - around 2000, about 1,200 wintered in eastern China,and now there are only 500-600. The specific reason is unknown and may be related to habitat destruction (wetland reclamation and fragmentation) and plant invasion.

In addition, South Korea has a wintering population of 1,100, and Japan has about 1,000 resident birds.

Adult red-crowned cranes and chicks. Image: Shigeki Iimura / Nature Production / mindenpictures

Today, the conservation status of this elegant "candidate" national bird isEndangered (EN), and they need more attention. May our descendants still be able to see graceful crane dances in the wild.

Blending into the snowy landscape. Image: Vincent Munier / NPL / mindenpictures

This article is the 165th article of Year 4 of the Species Calendar, from Species Calendar author @Beijing Xiaoguan.

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