Crane top is red, but it has nothing to do with poison.

In the summer of junior high school, on the way to Huairou, my family pointed to two big gray birds flying in the sky and told me, "look, crane." In retrospect, I realized that the two so-called "cranes" were just common herons.

I don't blame the family for admitting their mistakes. Cranes and herons do look alike, but cranes seem to have an elegant temperament. Today's protagonist, the red-crowned crane, is such an elegant bird.

Courtship red-crowned crane. Picture: Jean-Paul Ferrero / Auscape International

Crane top is red, but it has nothing to do with poison.

If you have read martial arts novels, you must know that Crane Ding Hong is famous for its venom, which is often described as extracted from the red part of the head of a red-crowned crane. So, what is the relationship between crane-top red and red-crowned cranes?

The poison in the martial arts drama may be contained in such a "vial", but in fact, it is a red snuff bottle made in the Qing Dynasty. Picture: 51bidlive.com

It is believed that the so-called crane top red is probably the famous arsenic, the chemical name is arsenic trioxide (As?O?). Pure arsenic trioxide is a white crystal, but in nature it is often accompanied by a variety of impurities, so it has a blood-like red. If there is anything in common between the red-crowned crane and the red-crowned crane, I think they both have a red appearance.

Arsenic trioxide crystal. Picture: vecstone.jp

The crane "fairy" is bald.

Red-crowned crane feathers match black and white, the top of the head is red, simple and elegant with a warm; coupled with long legs and long mouth, coupled with a tall figure, it looks like a fairy style, so it is known as "crane".

Red-crowned cranes singing loudly. Picture: cyberfox / wikimedia

For thousands of years, red-crowned cranes have been deeply integrated into our culture, and the ancients chanted cranes in different forms. In the Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi wrote that "there is no companion like a crane in leisure, and only Qin is suitable for the old." Su Zhe in the Song Dynasty also wrote that the crane is still healthy and Hong Fei watched the world together to show that his body and mind did not change at the beginning.

However, the crane is actually bald, um. At least it's a "Mediterranean"-the red part of the head of a red-crowned crane is exposed. Picture: Markus Varesvuo / NPL / mindenpictures

Among the many ancient paintings, the red-crowned crane often appears with the pine, of which the most famous is the picture of the pine crane. In the painting, cranes and pines are auspicious symbols of longevity, which is a typical birthday picture.

Pay attention to the back toe of the red-crowned crane in the painting. Picture: zihua01.com

However, the combination of the pine tree and the crane is actually an artistic creation processed by the artist's thinking-in fact, the red-crowned crane's back toes are small and high and cannot hold the first three toes, so they cannot grasp the branches or stand on the tree.

Let's look at the position and shape of the back toe of the red-crowned crane in reality. Picture: Konrad Wothe / mindenpictures

In reality, the red-crowned crane does not appear in the mountain pine forest. It likes to move in the wetlands. If you see big gray birds resting on the pine trees in the wild, it is probably the first "fake crane" I saw-the heron.

Swipe left and right to see left heron (Ardea cinerea), right red-crowned crane. Ardeidae birds, whether flying in the air or landing on the ground, always shrink their necks and seem to be a little creepy (mistakenly), while crane birds often straighten their necks even when they fly in the air. Photo: Beijing Xiaoguan; Thomas Marent / mindenpictures

Dangerous adult national bird

Once upon a time, the State Forestry Administration reported the red-crowned crane as the only candidate for the national bird. But the literal translation of the scientific name of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) is "Japanese crane", which caused a heated discussion at that time. Many people think that our national bird name carries the name of another country, which is very awkward. In the end, the matter of the national bird sank into the sea, and to this day, there is no official national bird in China.

Teacher Xi Zhinong photographed three red-crowned cranes in Zhalong National Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province. Photo: Xi Zhinong / mindenpictures

The original name japonensis of the red-crowned crane comes from "Japan", and the English name Japanese crane has also been used. Why are cranes well-known in China called "Japanese cranes"?

It turns out that in 1776, the German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius M ü ller translated and published Linnai's masterpiece the Natural system and announced some newly named species, including the red-crowned crane. Because the Qing government was closed to the outside world at that time, few people understood that the red-crowned crane had already appeared in Chinese culture for a long time, and Muller's first specimen of the red-crowned crane came from Japan. According to the naming rules of biological classification, the physical object can be named according to the place name, so the red-crowned crane is called the "Japanese crane".

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

Until 1980, an international symposium on cranes was held in Hokkaido, Japan. Mr. Zheng Zuoxin, academician of ornithology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, put forward a suggestion to correct the name of the red-crowned crane, which was adopted at the meeting. Since then, the current name has been used in international academic conferences and literature (the English name has been changed to red-crowned crane, but the scientific name cannot be changed).

Wish to see Pianpian Crane Dance again

Today, there are a total of 15 species under the family Crane, and 9 species are distributed in China, which is the country with the largest number of crane species.

The family photo of Crane family, from left to right, is grey-crowned crane, coir-feathered crane, white-headed crane, black-crowned crane, blue-feathered crane, black-necked crane, sand dune crane, grey crane, white-pillowed crane, Australian crane, American crane, red-crowned crane, Siberian white crane, flesh-hanging crane and red-necked crane. Picture: steora-moonstar / cambrian.me

The tallest crane in the world is the red-necked crane (Antigone antigone). Some individuals are said to be more than 1.8m upright, a head taller than me. This large bird has been recorded only in the west and south of Yunnan in China, but it has disappeared for about 30 years and is VU.

Red-necked crane. Picture: J.M.Garg / wikimedia

As for the smallest feathered crane (Grus virgo) in the family Crane family, its standing height is only similar to that of a desk, and I am glad that the tallest individual is not as tall as I. Despite their small size, some individuals even fly over Mount Qomolangma during the autumn migration, but their seemingly delicate bodies contain a lot of energy. There is no LC at present.

Crane with feather. Picture: Tomju48 / wikimedia

Back to the red-crowned crane. Today, there are only about 2700 red-crowned cranes in the world. According to Mr. Jia Yifei, a postdoctoral fellow who studies cranes at Beijing Forestry University, the overwintering population of red-crowned cranes in China is on a downward trend-there are about 1200 in eastern China around 2000, but now there are only 500,600. The specific reason is unknown, which may be related to habitat destruction (wetland reclamation and fragmentation) and plant invasion.

In addition, there are 1100 overwintering populations in South Korea and about 1000 resident birds in Japan.

Adult red-crowned cranes and cubs. Picture: Shigeki Iimura / Nature Production / mindenpictures

Today, this elegant "candidate" national bird is EN, and they need more attention. I hope our descendants can still see the crane dance in the wild.

Blend in with the snow. Picture: Vincent Munier / NPL / mindenpictures

This article is the 165th article in the fourth year of the species calendar, from the author of the species calendar @ Xiaoguan in Beijing.

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