#CRANES

[anasaraivas]

red-crowned crane sunset

[snototter]

A pair of red crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) perform a courtship dance in Hokkaido, Japan

by ted smith

[na-bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Common Crane

Photo: Thomas Landgren

"This crane is relatively common in parts of Eurasia, but strictly an accidental visitor to North America. Most records have been of birds in migrating flocks of Sandhill Cranes on the Great Plains; these are likely individuals that joined flocks of Sandhills in eastern Siberia, and then traveled with them back across the Bering Strait and south to wintering areas on this continent."

- Audubon Field Guide

[albertonykus]

An interesting and underappreciated part of crane anatomy. Worth keeping in mind if you ever draw one!

[sardosycserokyric]

Design for a wall decoration with peacock, cranes, and sunflowers for the restaurant in Hotel Langham (Paris), Emile Hurtré and Jules C. Wielhorski, 1896-1898, pen and black, blue, and metallic ink, watercolor, over graphite.

[reasonsforhope]

"Over the past decade, the population of the critically endangered Siberian crane has increased by nearly 50%, according to the International Crane Foundation.

The foundation said the boost in the snowy-white Siberian crane’s (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) numbers is the result of efforts to secure the migratory bird’s stopover sites along its eastern flyway, or migratory route, between Russia and China.

“It is a wonderful feeling to have this Critically Endangered species thriving with such a strong comeback from near extinction,” Rich Beilfuss, president and CEO of the International Crane Foundation, told Mongabay by email.

The Siberian crane, known for its extremely long and arduous annual journeys, is one of the world’s rarest cranes. It’s western and central populations, which once bred in western Russia, then migrated to parts of Central Asia and India, is nearly extinct today.

Most Siberian cranes that remain belong to the eastern population, which migrates between northeastern Russia and China. By 2012, researchers estimated there were around 3,500-4,000 individuals left in this eastern population.

The latest bird counts from Russia and China suggest their numbers have nearly doubled to 7,000 individuals, Beilfuss said.

The recovery of the eastern flyway is heartening, he added, because the western flyway of the species “was lost due to over-hunting and the entire population is now concentrated in this one eastern flyway between Russia and China.”

The eastern population, too, has declined in the past due to the loss and degradation of its summer breeding and wintering grounds, as well as its stopover wetland habitats. The habitat losses are driven largely by climate change and human activities like the construction of dams.

To help the Siberian cranes along this flyway, the International Crane Foundation, with support from the Disney Conservation Fund, has been working with organizations in Russia and China over the past decade to identify and secure the wetlands the bird relies on, Beilfuss said.

In China, for instance, the foundation has collaborated with local partners at Lake Poyang, which supports nearly the entire wintering population of Siberian cranes and several other threatened waterbirds. Beilfuss said they’re managing the lake system in a way that ensures enough feeding areas for the cranes. Additionally, the organizations have been raising awareness about the threatened status of the species along the flyway, including school curriculums about the crane.

The Disney funding ended in late 2024. However, the International Crane Foundation will continue to work on Lake Poyang, Beilfuss said. This includes focusing on “restoring the natural habitat for cranes and managing enough safe agricultural land as refugia, developing a water level control and vegetation restoration plan for two sub-lakes within Poyang, and strengthening community engagement to reduce disturbances to cranes,” he said. “Still much to do to keep this species thriving!”"

-via Mongabay News, January 9, 2025

[clawmarks]

Whooping Crane, Grus Americana - after John James Audubon, from The Birds of America - 1834 - via Bonhams

[monstermonger]

Cranes

[antiqueanimals]

Jessie Arms Botke (1883 – 1971). Demoiselle Cranes. Oil & gold leaf on fabric-lined board.

Coeur d’Alene Art Auction

[thesuperheroesnetwork]

Texts From Superheroes

Facebook | Threads | Patreon | Instagram

[toyastales]

Pink Cranes Cabinet

[madeleineengland]

The crane are calling the birds together before the hurricane hits.

Yeah cranes love to yell, but animals can sense storms in a way that we'll never understand, it's their natural survival instincts and Sandhill cranes are the oldest living bird species on earth.

Don't underestimate animals, especially birds because they follow the geomagnetic of the earth, so they know when there's been a change in the atmosphere.

Listen to the animals❗

[littlealienproducts]

crane earrings by AlmanacForJune

[thefugitivesaint]

Mabel Betsy Hill (1877-1971), ''The New Barnes Readers: Book Four'', 1921

[werewolf-artfriend]

A study of pair bonds across species <3