Like a lot of native Nebraskans, I remember a few spring mornings when my parents woke us kids in what felt like the middle of the night and loaded us into the family minivan so we could see the Sandhill Cranes. I remember watching the sunrise from the car, and I remember how quiet it was along I-80 until we reached the birds. I remember talking to my friends at school about their own family trips to see the cranes; to grow up in rural Nebraska was to make your own family migration – perhaps not every year, but at least once – to see the state’s most famous birds.
Crane season is upon us again, and whether or not you’re planning your own crane migration this year, these University of Nebraska Press titles offer insight into the ancient, mysterious, fascinating relationship between the cranes and the stretch of Platte River they briefly call home each year.
In his book, Crane Music, Paul A. Johnsgard describes a full year of the cranes’ lives – the migration, the return to the Platte, and the famous mating dance, of course, as well as the cranes’ habitat outside of Nebraska.
Those of the Gray Wind, also by Johnsgard, also follows the cranes from the American Southwest, to the Platte River, to the birds’ mating grounds in Alaska. Those of the Gray Wind also explains how humans have altered the cranes’ habitat and put the birds at risk.
Lastly, On Ancient Wings is a collection of photographs by Michael Forsberg, who spent five years documenting the cranes. There are plenty of photos of the birds along the Platte, of course, but Forsberg also captures them in unexpected places – like a Cuban nature preserve and a suburban backyard.
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