This is the hilarious moment a bird playfully pecked at a man while he was taking a selfie, apparently wanting to join in on the shot.

The man had approached the red-crowned crane when he spotted it in a field in Yancheng, in Jiangsu Province, eastern China.

He then took out his phone and stood in front of the tall bird in the middle of the grass and attempted to take a selfie. But as he held up his phone, the crane suddenly began pecking at his trousers.

The man seemingly did not sense the gentle poking at first, and then the bird pecked his ear in an apparent attempt to be noticed.

The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), also known as the Japanese crane, is native to East Asia and one of the rarest crane species in the world. Characterised by its large stature, the red-crowned crane boasts a white plumage with contrasting black wingtips. The defining feature is its red crown atop a bare, white head.