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A handsome neighbor descends out of the winter sky.
It is a crane.
Red-crowned Crane (Natural monument No. 202)
The Red-crowned crane is what our ancestors used to call this particular bird,
for the bright red spot covering the top of its head.
They have brought their babies with them this winter.
It means their efforts to mate was successful.
A female crane lays two eggs,
but when one does not hatch, they fly south with only one offspring.
The family spends their first day here
by pecking at the rice grains left on the harvested field.
Other cranes settle near Imjin River in the DMZ's western section.
The cranes come here year after year, attracted by the plentiful shells, clams,
and other mollusks that the Imjin River supplies.
This young bird dipping its feet in the river for the first time
will take three years before it is fully grown.
The crane is a symbol of longevity, chastity, and integrity.
Once two cranes have mated, they stay with each other for life.
A crane's mating dance is hauntingly beautiful.
Their tall stature and graceful appearance means
anyone seeing them up close
will never forget the sheer dignity they seem to exude.
Migration is a fate these birds cannot escape from.
For most of them,
surviving winter means looking for food and eating nearly all the time.
Red-crowned cranes stand out for their snow-white feathers.
However, most of them face the threat of extinction.
Of the fifteen species of crane in existence,
eleven exist precariously on the edge of extinction
and are under international supervision.
Despite their seemingly peaceful appearance,
they are actually fighting hard to survive.
Their gentle appearance also disguise the fierce fights for territory that rage
between male cranes.
A White-naped crane joins the red-crowned cranes in the field.
The DMZ near Chorwon is the only place in the world
where the two types of crane can be seen mingling together.
But mingle is not all they do,
for sometimes they must fight each other for the limited winter food supply.
That makes the DMZ the only place where we see them mingle, and fight.
Winters in Chorwon can be very harsh,
with temperatures going down to minus twenty degrees Celsius.
Yet the birds still have good reasons for coming here.
They are here for the spring that does not freeze.
Saemtong ('The Spring': Cheontong-ri, Chorwon-gun, Gangwondo Province)
The spring is the product of an ancient volcanic eruption,
gushing warm water that does not freeze.
Its temperature remains constant at 15 degrees Celsius.
The green water plants growing in winter is proof of its warmth.
The cranes require water nearly every time they feed,
and the spring is like an oasis of life for the cranes
in the barren winter landscape of Chorwon.
A waterway that has formed naturally fills a nearby rice paddy with water.
The spring that does not freeze ensures that these birds will survive the winter.
Every crane in the area come to the spring to rest when the day of foraging is over.