Japanese cranes forage using a 'walk and peck' technique (6). They have a broad diet that varies depending on the site, including insects, aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, rodents, fish, reeds, grasses, and other plants (6). Adults usually pair for life and these bonds are reinforced in a mesmerising synchronised courtship dance (9). Arriving in the coastal marshes in the spring to breed (9), nests are made in areas of dead reeds between 30 and 200 centimetres tall (6). A clutch will normally contain two eggs, which hatch after a 29 to 34 day incubation period (6). The chicks then leave the nest after only a couple of days to follow their parents on foraging trips; only one chick is likely to be reared successfully by each pair (9).