Species Field Guide

The World of Cranes

Truly global citizens, the world's 15 species of cranes range freely over five continents and migrate across deserts, mountains, frozen tundra, and the borders of hundreds of nations. As such, they are ambassadors for peace among diverse peoples, who unite in efforts to save the elegant birds, and for the preservation of their fragile wetland and grassland homes and migratory staging grounds. Because of development and habitat loss, many species that once thrived in much broader ranges, including the Red-crowned, Black-crowned, and White-naped Cranes, are now restricted to fragments of protected land in parks, sanctuaries, even demilitarized zones between hostile nations.