Cranes: A Natural History of a Bird in Crisis.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

The heart and soul of this impressive work is the story of the near-extinction and tentative recovery of the whooping crane. The whooping crane’s story is lovingly wrapped in an account of the world’s cranes—15 species, of which nine are threatened or in danger of becoming extinct.

Cranes inhabit most continents, with two, whooping and sandhill, living in North America. They’re large birds that have played a dramatic role in the legends of most cultures. They have been seen as messengers of the gods, symbols of compassion and joy, and a means of passage to immortality.

Using more than 80 colour photos and a solid, well-researched text, Hughes introduces the reader to all aspects of the cranes’ life cycle. For 15 species, she covers courtship, migration, foraging and flock (social) behaviours, flight, plumage, grooming, displays, vocalizations, territories, attack and distraction behaviour, nesting, eggs, and fledging. The unusual “parade walk” is described in detail. Cranes have a lifespan of up to 30 years in the wild and up to 80 years in captivity; they mate for life and are devoted parents. Their conspicuous size and migration patterns have exposed them, historically, to multi-faceted atrocities. Today death comes in different forms—collisions with wires and high buildings, for example—as well as from that old standby, hunters willing to ignore the law.

The 65 percent of the work devoted to whooping cranes touches on the species’ place in pre-history and in Aboriginal cultures, and the impact of the arrival of Europeans in North America, including the carnage of egg, plume, and market (meat) hunters. The efforts of conservationists are detailed, including captive breeding programs, the fight against imprinting on humans, the search for the cranes’ elusive breeding grounds, and the excitement of vehicle-led migrations. From a global population of 21 birds in 1945, determined conservationists have restored the whooping crane population to a near-viable level.

The quality of the photos is very good—think National Geographic level. An index facilitates the book’s usefulness as a reference work. In style, after a rather plodding start Hughes’s writing moves from lyrical, to a rant, to the tone of a professor reeling off factual data. It is not without a delightful touch of sarcasm when describing hunting practices. Overall, in content and style, passion for the subject carries the day, producing a work that will be valued by both professional and hobby ornithologists and naturalists.