Cranes of a Feather Trivia Quiz

Answer: South America

Cranes are admired by many around the world and have been a part of folklore and mythology of many peoples and cultures. They can be found on Egyptian tombs, in Russian songs and in Greek myths. Most species of cranes are threatened if not endangered. All of the names of the 15 species are included somewhere in this quiz.

Answer: wetlands

A wetland is a type of habitat that is land covered by shallow water. Some examples of wetlands are marshes, ponds and the edge of large lakes and rivers. The unique environment of wetlands is home to many plants and animals that are dependent on such a setting and a wide variety of birds can be found in wetlands around the world. For many years wetlands have been viewed as useless and consequently have been altered and used for agricultural production or other development.

This has contributed to the threatened and/or endangered status of most cranes as their habitat has been diminishing.

Answer: All species of cranes have declining populations.

Some species of cranes are stable and the population of some species is actually growing, although there may be pockets of declining populations among some groups or subspecies. The sandhill crane, which is the world's most abundant species of cranes, is considered stable to increasing. Despite this good news most species are actually in decline and need our help.

Answer: gathering chicks

All cranes dance and this includes birds of all ages. In addition to the purposes of dancing stated in the question these dances also seem to increase pair bonding. It is a common thought that cranes mate for life, although one study done in 2005 seems to dispute this idea. Evidence indicates that many pairs of cranes do indeed mate for life.

Answer: whooping cranes

The whooping crane is the tallest North American bird and is one of only two species found in the US. It inspired some of the first US legislation to protect endangered species. The efforts have paid off and this species now numbers 400 and is increasing.

It was named for the unique whooping call that it makes. Most whooping cranes nest in Wood Buffalo National Park, Northwestern Territories, Canada and winter in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, USA.

Answer: Siberian cranes

There are now only two main populations of Siberian cranes, wintering and nesting in different locations. One of these populations nests near the Arctic Circle and winters in China while the other population nests east of the Ural Mountains in Russia and winters in Iran.

In an effort to boost populations and viability a project was begun in 2005 that was intended to help introduce Siberian cranes bred in captivity to a migratory route on the shore of the Caspian Sea in Iran.

Answer: black crowned cranes in Africa

The most serious threat to black crowned cranes is being captured and sold in the pet industry. It is an old tradition in West Africa to keep domesticated black crowned cranes at home, and over the last thirty years the international trade in this species has increased, posing a severe threat to their survival. It is historically believed that this species actually helps get rid of other agricultural pests thus they have been protected.

The International Crane Foundation is an organization that is working to protect and increase crane populations around the world. It has more than 20 projects in 40 countries; one project is to help resolve problems between farmers and cranes.

Answer: ultralight aircrafts

Operation Migration is the organization behind this successful effort to establish a new migratory population of whooping cranes that winters in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge or Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, USA and breeds in Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin, USA. Crane chicks were taught to fly behind an ultralight aircraft and were led on the migratory route by the vehicle.

The establishment of more diversity in breeding and wintering sites is an important part of increasing the chances of survival of a species.

Answer: sandhill crane

Whooping crane eggs were transferred to the nests of sandhill cranes in the Gray's Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Idaho in this foster-care program. After the eggs hatched they followed the migrating sandhill cranes to New Mexico for the winter where, unfortunately, they did not form pair bonds with other whooping cranes.

This experimental program was deemed unsuccessful and discontinued in 1989.

Answer: Nebraska's Platte River

This spectacle of nature can be seen along a 30-mile area of the Platte River between the middle of February and the middle of April. Ninety percent of the world's sandhill cranes pass through this area and spend a month or more fattening themselves on food in local fields before their flight north to breed, many going as far as northern Canada.

Despite the abundance of this species of cranes there are still concerns due to conflicts between cranes and farmers. The International Crane Foundation is involved in helping solve these problems.