JINAN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Baby red-crowned cranes have been recently spotted foraging in the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, the first recorded natural breeding of the rare species in the area.

As migratory birds, nearly 100 red-crowned cranes flock to the nature reserve in east China's Shandong Province around November each year and migrate to the Zhalong National Nature Reserve in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province for propagation in February or March the following year.

Red-crowned cranes are an endangered species under first-class national protection in China.

It is believed that about 1,500-plus red-crowned cranes live in the wild worldwide, mainly in east Asia. China has the largest population, with more than 1,000 red-crowned cranes.

The 153,000-hectare Yellow River Delta reserve, established in 1992, is known as a paradise for rare migratory birds.