The Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) on my annual Hokkaido photo workshop are represented in two main flocks.  The first live in China and Russia that migrate south on the Korean peninsual, and the second which are endemic to Hokkaido.  The flocks of Red-crowned cranes that I spot and photograph with participants on my Hokkaido photography tour are mainly endemic to Japan, who migrate from their nesting spots 150 km (93 miles) to their wintering grounds where we spot and photograph them in the Kushiro wetlands.  There are a small number, approximately a dozen cranes, who migrate from Hokkaido and join the continental population in their annual migration.

These Cranes are huge, and one of the largest cranes in the world measuring about 150 to 158 cm (4 ft 11 in to 5 ft 2 in) tall and 101–150 cm (3 ft 4 in – 4 ft 11 in) in length (from bill to tail tip).

The IUCN has them listed as vulnerable, but the decrease in their numbers comes more from the migratory strand of the Red-crowned cranes that trek from north to south during the harsh Siberian winters toward warmer climates.  The migratory cranes breed in Siberia, north-eastern China, and as far as Mongolia.  During the fall, as the temperatures begin to drop, the flocks of Red-crowned cranes move to the Korean peninsula and east-central China to winter over.  The problem is that the Red-crowned cranes nest in wetlands, marshes, and rivers, but the number of their preferred nesting grounds on the mainland have been slowly disappearing due to human encroachment.  The endemic population on Hokkaido have been held relatively stable to the conservation efforts of the local population and Japanese wildlife conservation societies.  When I photograph them in Hokkaido, my day starts well before dawn so I spot them roosting in groups of up to 80 members before they stir and go out foraging for their morning meals, and I’m looking forward to photographing them again this summer, and during my 2024 Hokkaido winter photo tour.