Okay, I mentioned I went to the International Crane Foundation last week. Located in central Wisconsin, this is the only facility in the world where you can see all 15 species of crane in captivity in one place. It was cool, especially the Whooping Crane exhibit where I took the video clip I posted last Friday, but a lot of the enclosures were fronted with chain-link fence that made it hard to get great photos. I missed getting photos of two species, the Eurasian Crane and the Red-crowned Crane. Click any thumbnail to bring up a slideshow!
Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis, the familiar crane of North America
Siberian Crane, Grus leucogeranus, from Asia
Brolga, Grus rubicunda, from Australia
White-naped Crane, Grus vipio, from Asia – this is one of the ones that winters in Japan, where they rely on artificial feeding stations
Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo, from Asia – David Attenborough fans, these are the ones that migrate over the Himalayas in Planet Earth!
A crappy photo of Blue Cranes, Anthropoides paradisea, from Africa
Sarus Crane, Grus antigone, from Asia and Australia – this one is sitting down, but at almost 6 ft tall, this is the world’s tallest flying bird
Black Crowned Crane, Balearica pavonina, from Africa
Wattled Cranes, Bugeranus carunculatus, from Africa – you can see the wattles on their throats
Grey Crowned Crane, Balearica regulorum, from Africa
Hooded Crane, Grus monacha, from Asia – these are so secretive on their breeding grounds that the first nest wasn’t found until 1974!
Black-necked Crane, Grus nigricollis, from Asia
Whooping Crane, Grus americana, North America’s other crane – less than 500 in the wild
