The national bird of China is the red-crowned crane.
Extended information
The cultural significance of the red-crowned crane:
It is recognized as a first-class literary bird in Chinese history. The Ming and Qing dynasties gave the red-crowned crane the cultural connotation of loyalty, integrity, and high moral character. Civil servants of the first rank embroidered the red-crowned crane on their uniforms, which was listed as an important symbol second only to the dragon and phoenix used exclusively by the royal family. Therefore, people also called the crane the "first-rank bird".
People also regard the crane as a symbol of high officials. An auspicious pattern of a crane standing on a rock at the head of a tide, which is a homophony of "tide" and "chao", symbolizes "one rank in power" like a prime minister; a pattern of cranes flying in the clouds symbolizes "one rank rises high"; The pattern of flying cranes at sunrise symbolizes "the rising sun".
In 2003, the State Forestry Administration of China and the China Wildlife Conservation Association launched the national bird selection activity, established an expert selection group and determined the selection criteria. From May to June 2004, the China Wildlife Conservation Association, China News Service, and Sina jointly organized more than 20 news websites across the country to organize an online campaign to recommend the national bird.
Among the 10 candidate bird species, the red-crowned crane received 64.92% of the votes from 5 million netizens, far ahead of other competitors. The State Forestry Administration of China reported the red-crowned crane to the State Council as the only candidate for national bird.
Baidu Encyclopedia--Red Crowned Crane