A flock of rare red-crowned cranes held up traffic while they ambled along a road in Japan.

Dashcam footage shows four birds strolling in the middle of the motorway, prompting a passing vehicle to slow down and follow behind them in Kushiro, Hokkaido.

Moments later, two of the cranes moved toward the pavement, allowing the car to drive past on October 12.

The filmer said: 'In Kushiro, it's common for these cranes to walk on the road. They have a weak sense of danger from cars, so they don't easily get out of the way. You need a lot of patience for these birds.'

Red-crowned cranes are among the largest and rarest cranes in the world. In some East Asian cultures, they are considered symbols of luck, longevity, and fidelity in marriage. These birds inhabit marshes, rivers, deltas, and wetlands.

The species is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), primarily due to habitat loss and fragmentation.