The Cranes

Credit: John Crispin

Cranes are members of the “Gruidae” family – a very ancient bird family that has been around for about 40 million years.

Despite having characteristics of the heron and stork families, cranes are actually unrelated to these birds and are much more closely related to Moorhens and Coots. 

There are 15 species of cranes across the world and they are found in every continent except Antarctica and South America.   

The cranes being released by the project are the Eurasian or Common Crane and one of the most widespread on the continent – but they are anything but common birds. Their behaviour, their calls, their appearance, the way they are revered around the world, their dancing, their history – everything about them is fascinating.  

To find out how you can champion one of these amazing birds and be a part of their future visit the Crane Champions pages. 

To discover more about their incredible lives – visit the Crane Life and Crane History pages.    

And to meet the very birds that are being released go to the Meet the Cranes of 2010 and Meet the Cranes of 2011 pages.