The mother crane and her nestlings. The demoiselle crane is found in pairs only in the breeding season. At other times it lives in a tribe or small group, sometimes, it can even be found single. It's timid and vigilant, good at running and lives far away from humans. Demoiselles rarely flock with common cranes. In spring, they reach the breeding grounds in west Jilin in the middle of March. From the end of March to early April, they’ll be in Heilongjiang and Hulun Buir League in Inner Mongolia. In autumn, they flock south in small groups or as a tribe in later October. They feed mainly on small fish, shrimps, frogs, tadpoles, aquatic insects, tender shoots, leaves, grass and crops. The demoiselle crane is rare in China. |