Conservation workers at a nature reserve area in east China's Jiangsu Province are making preparations for the arrival of red-crowned cranes which migrated here to spend the winter.

Staffs at the Jiangsu Yancheng national reserve for rare birds have spread 10,000 kilograms of corns, and distributed buckets of fishes and small shrimps to help the cranes regain strength after a long flight.

Before migrating to the reserve from the end of October to November, the birds were nestled at the Zhalong State Nature Reserve for Red-Crowned Cranes, China's largest artificial breeding center for the cranes, in Qiqihar of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

About 300 to 1,000 red-crowned cranes flew to the Yancheng reserve every year to live through the winter.

The use of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals have also been banned in about 6,000 hectares of farmland in surrounding areas.

The reserve, extending over 453,300 hectares along the coast line, provides shelter to red-crowned cranes and millions of other wild birds. It is the second largest shelter for the red-crowned cranes in China.

The red-crowned crane, or Grus japonensis, is listed as a first-grade protected species in China. They are usually found in northeast, east and north parts of the country.

(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2007)