International Crane Centre. At six feet tall, the Sarus crane ( Grus antigone ) is the tallest flying bird and the Eurasian crane ( Grus grus ) flies higher than any other, reaching 32,000 feet. At that altitude, they are invisible from the ground, but are so loud they can still be heard.
THE CRANE HORN
There are fifteen species of crane and they are found everywhere except South America and Antarctica. Their beauty and elegance have enchanted human beings in every culture. They figure in prehistoric cave paintings, and Homer writes of their âclangorousâ sound in the Iliad . According to Roman fables, the god Hermes was inspired to invent writing by the letter shapes that flying cranes made in the sky.
Cranes seem almost human. They are sociable, mostly monogamous and spend years raising theirchildren. They have long memories and complex communication systems, using over ninety physical gestures and sounds.
They are also the avian worldâs best dancers, using elaborate choreography to develop social skills when young and for courtship when older. In a flock, once one crane starts dancing, all the others join in, bowing, leaping and running and even picking up small objects to toss into the air.
The demoiselle crane ( Anthropoides virgo ) is the smallest species, introduced to France from Russia in the eighteenth century. Their daintiness charmed Marie Antoinette and she named them âdemoiselleâ, meaning âyoung ladyâ .
There is evidence for imitative human crane dances from as early as 7,000 BC . In ancient China and Japan, among the Ainu of Hokkaido, the shamans of Siberia and the BaTwa pygmies of central Africa, the crane dance is a key ritual. Plutarch even records that Theseus celebrated his defeat of the Minotaur by dancing like a crane.
Cranes have also left their trace in language. Cranberries are named after them, from the similarity between the stamen of the plant and the birdâs bill. The word âgeraniumâ is from geranos , Greek for crane: its seedpod resembles the birdâs noble head. And âpedigreeâ comes from the French phrase pied de gru , âfoot of a craneâ, as family trees look a little like birdsâ feet.
Eight of the fifteen crane species are endangered, two of them critically. In America in 1941, the number of Whooping cranes ( Grus americana ) dwindled to twenty but has since recovered to over 450. The breeding programme involves âisolation rearingâ, where crane eggs are hatched and reared using hand puppets, humans in crane-costumes and taped calls.
Cranes were once widespread in Britain â almost every county has a Cranwell, Cranbourne, Cranley or a Cranford â but they are now Britainâs rarest breeding bird. A tiny colony established itself in Norfolk in the 1980s, the first to do so in 350 years. Its precise location is a closely guarded secret.
Dog
Wolf with talent
T he ancestors of dogs were the earliest known carnivores. Dogs evolved from wolves â grey wolves are their closest living relatives â and were first kept by humans between 12,000 and 14,000 years ago. Itâs not known whether it was a single event that spread, or if it occurred independently in different regions. While some think dogs invited themselves along by scavenging human rubbish dumps and becoming gradually less scared of humans, others think humans adopted wolf pups and that natural selection favoured those with milder temperaments. The famous breeding experiment by Russian scientist Dmitri Belyaev in the 1950s showed it took wild silver foxes only twenty years to transform into tame dogs (see under Fox).
The Fuegians ⦠when pressed in winter by hunger, kill and devour their old women before they kill their dogs: a boy, being asked by Mr Low why they did this, answered, âDoggies catch otters, old women no.â
CHARLES DARWIN
Today, there are nearly 400 breeds of domestic dog but all belong to the same
THE CRANE HORN
There are fifteen species of crane and they are found everywhere except South America and Antarctica. Their beauty and elegance have enchanted human beings in every culture. They figure in prehistoric cave paintings, and Homer writes of their âclangorousâ sound in the Iliad . According to Roman fables, the god Hermes was inspired to invent writing by the letter shapes that flying cranes made in the sky.
Cranes seem almost human. They are sociable, mostly monogamous and spend years raising theirchildren. They have long memories and complex communication systems, using over ninety physical gestures and sounds.
They are also the avian worldâs best dancers, using elaborate choreography to develop social skills when young and for courtship when older. In a flock, once one crane starts dancing, all the others join in, bowing, leaping and running and even picking up small objects to toss into the air.
The demoiselle crane ( Anthropoides virgo ) is the smallest species, introduced to France from Russia in the eighteenth century. Their daintiness charmed Marie Antoinette and she named them âdemoiselleâ, meaning âyoung ladyâ .
There is evidence for imitative human crane dances from as early as 7,000 BC . In ancient China and Japan, among the Ainu of Hokkaido, the shamans of Siberia and the BaTwa pygmies of central Africa, the crane dance is a key ritual. Plutarch even records that Theseus celebrated his defeat of the Minotaur by dancing like a crane.
Cranes have also left their trace in language. Cranberries are named after them, from the similarity between the stamen of the plant and the birdâs bill. The word âgeraniumâ is from geranos , Greek for crane: its seedpod resembles the birdâs noble head. And âpedigreeâ comes from the French phrase pied de gru , âfoot of a craneâ, as family trees look a little like birdsâ feet.
Eight of the fifteen crane species are endangered, two of them critically. In America in 1941, the number of Whooping cranes ( Grus americana ) dwindled to twenty but has since recovered to over 450. The breeding programme involves âisolation rearingâ, where crane eggs are hatched and reared using hand puppets, humans in crane-costumes and taped calls.
Cranes were once widespread in Britain â almost every county has a Cranwell, Cranbourne, Cranley or a Cranford â but they are now Britainâs rarest breeding bird. A tiny colony established itself in Norfolk in the 1980s, the first to do so in 350 years. Its precise location is a closely guarded secret.
Dog
Wolf with talent
T he ancestors of dogs were the earliest known carnivores. Dogs evolved from wolves â grey wolves are their closest living relatives â and were first kept by humans between 12,000 and 14,000 years ago. Itâs not known whether it was a single event that spread, or if it occurred independently in different regions. While some think dogs invited themselves along by scavenging human rubbish dumps and becoming gradually less scared of humans, others think humans adopted wolf pups and that natural selection favoured those with milder temperaments. The famous breeding experiment by Russian scientist Dmitri Belyaev in the 1950s showed it took wild silver foxes only twenty years to transform into tame dogs (see under Fox).
The Fuegians ⦠when pressed in winter by hunger, kill and devour their old women before they kill their dogs: a boy, being asked by Mr Low why they did this, answered, âDoggies catch otters, old women no.â
CHARLES DARWIN
Today, there are nearly 400 breeds of domestic dog but all belong to the same
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