20181118 Japanese Symbol Tsuru – Crane 日本の象徴 鶴

In Japan, the crane is considered a lucky charm (!!!)

Cranes are omnivores who gather their food as they move from the ground or out of the shallow water and thus count as the herons and storks to the so-called birds of passage. 

They sleep standing in knee-deep water, which serves as protection against enemies such as the fox. In autumn, the cranes also feed on the crop residues of the fields and the seed.

In order to minimize the damage to the farmers – and to provide enough food for the thousands of birds – nature conservation organizations switched to „distraction feeds“ in the 1990s, as can be observed, for example, at Kranich Utkiek in Hohendorf/Germany

Close up you will hardly see a crane in the wild. 

The animals are very shy and already fly at an approach to about 300 m. 

You have better chances of said Utkiek (there are also in Bisdorf at Groß Mohrdorf and two observation points at Zingst), but here you should definitely have a pair of binoculars. 

In their famous courtship the cranes are only occasionally allowed to experience in spring, this takes place mainly at the breeding grounds in northern climes. 

While the animals were considered extremely rare until the end of the 1980s, their numbers have multiplied today. 

The cranes here find optimal conditions without interference from humans and agriculture, especially through the strict protected areas of the Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft National Park, which were declared in 1990.

About the crane is already reported in mythology as a lucky charm. 

It is found on ancient Egyptian grave plates as well as in Russian fairy tales, in India it is worshiped as God, in China as a divine messenger of heaven and as a symbol of wisdom and a long life, in Japan paper cranes are folded as good luck charms. 

However, the crane is said to have gotten its name as „bird of luck“ in Sweden, where its appearance in the spring heralds the end of the dark, cold time. 

No wonder that more and more visitors want to see these large, elegant birds close up (or relatively close by).

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