Marguerite Austin, age 10, of Casper, Wyo., for her question:
HOW LARGE DOES A CRANE GROW?
Cranes are large birds and they are considered to be among the world's most spectacular feathered animals. There are 14 species and they range in size from the three foot demosel crane of Europe to the five foot. whooping crane of North Amercia.
Cranes primarily inhabit open marshlands, wet plains and prairies and occasionally on seashores. As a group, they are all long legged, long necked birds with heads that are partly bare of feathers.
A distinctive feature of the crane is its trachea or windpipe which is shaped differently in each species but is always strongly convoluted like the coils of a trumpet. The whooping crane's windpipe is about four feet long with about two feet of the length coiled in a cavity within the bird's breastbone.
The crane's windpipe allows the bird a chance to give out with a cry that can be heard two miles away. Most cranes have a loud, clarionlike trumpet note that they utter not only in flight to keep the flock together, but also on the ground. On the ground, the crane's voice includes many notes, some of which are musical and pleasant to hear.
Cranes also clack their bills audibly the way storks do.
Whooping cranes once ranged widely in the United States. But by the mid 1970s, only about 50 wild cranes were alive.
The birds nest in northern Canada and spend the winter months in Texas. Now carefully watched by scientists in both countries, the whooping crane population is slowly increasing. Also, there are about 50 living and breeding in zoos.
There are three kinds of sandhill cranes living in North America. The little brown crane breeds in the city region of the Arctic Circle and spends the winter in the southwestern United States and Mexico. The greater sandhill crane breeds in Canada and the Northern States west of the Great Lakes and winters in Mexico. The Florida sandhill is from Georgia and Florida.
The whooping crane has wingspread of from six to eight feet. This crane is named for its especially loud, deep call.
Cranes eat small plants, insects, frogs, worms, reptiles, small fish and the eggs of water animals. Vegetable matter usually predominates in their diet.
Groups of cranes gather during the mating season to dance. The birds dance crazily and hop into the air with great excitement. These antics are interspersed with deep bowings.
At other times, the cranes stand on one leg and doze lazily, with their heads drawn back on their shoulders.
The birds nest in marshes and other wetland areas. The female lays only two eggs each season. The eggs are a dull white to brown and spotted with darker shades of brown.
Cranes in flight can be distinguished from herons. Cranes fly with necks stuck out straight and herons fly with necks curved.
When migrating, cranes travel high in the air in a strong V or a long, extended echelon. When traveling any distance, they frequenlty fly as high as two miles up.