LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Cranes
built 190 days ago
Cranes are large birds that live in wetlands. They use their long legs to wade in shallow water, and use their long neck and sharp bill to kill small animals and obtain some tender plant roots. In order to fly, cranes must get a running start (usually facing the wind). Cranes migrate seasonally; some species fly long distances in order to breed in a cold area and eat in warm area. When cranes migrate, they fly in a "V" formation.
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Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances". While folklore often states that cranes mate for life, recent scientific research indicates that these birds do change mates over the course of their (considerable) lifetimes (Hayes 2005). Some species and/or populations of cranes migrate over long distances, while some do not migrate at all. Cranes are gregarious, forming large flocks where their numbers are sufficient.
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Originally based on the south coast of England in Portsmouth, Cranes first album 'Self non Self' had a peculiar intensity which seemed all the more unusual at the time. John Peel picked up on the album right away, with the group recording a session for him in the album's first week of release. Some intense media interest followed and shortly afterwards they signed to the label Dedicated (which ... became home to Spiritualized and Beth Orton, etc) and went on to record the albums 'Wings of Joy' (1991), 'Forever' (1993), 'Loved' (1994), 'La Tragedie d'Oreste et Electre' (1995), and 'Population Four' (1997). After a 4 year break, Cranes re-emerged on their own independent label Dadaphonic to release 'Future Songs' (2001) and 'Particles & Waves' (2004), which sees the band heading in a more electronic direction yet still retaining their trademark sound from their previous releases.
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Notwithstanding this intense sibling rivalry, Sandhill Cranes have close and durable pair bonds and family relationships. Pairs remain bonded and monogamous for periods of multiple years. Mother, father, and young stay together from the time of hatching into the following March, a period of nine to ten months. During this time, first-year birds feed on their own, but depend on their parents’ locating food and providing protection from predators and other territorially aggressive Sandhill Cranes.
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During migration, Sandhill Cranes assemble at established staging areas and stopover points. One such place, in the Platte and North Platte River valleys in Nebraska, hosts the largest gathering of cranes in the world. About three-fourths of the Sandhill Cranes that breed from Alaska and the Canadian plains and mountain provinces pass through the area. At its peak in late March, the number of Sandhill Cranes on the Platte and North Platte reaches about half a million.
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The fossil record of cranes leaves much to be desired. Apparently, the subfamilies were well distinct by the Late Eocene (around 35 mya). The present genera are apparently some 20 mya old. Biogeography of known fossil and the living taxa of cranes suggests that the group is probably of (Laurasian?) Old World origin. The extant diversity at the genus level is centered on (eastern) Africa, making it all the more regrettable that no decent fossil record exists from there. On the other hand, it is peculiar that numerous fossils of Ciconiiformes are documented from there; these birds presumably shared much of their habitat with cranes back then already.
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Cranes