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Rising from sandbars on the Platte River with clarion calls, the sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) feels the urgency of spring migration. Elegant, noble, and spiritual, the sandhill crane is one of the most ancient of all birds. More than a half-million strong, flying in squadrons, these majestic creatures point northward to their Arctic and sub-Arctic breeding ranges.Theirs is an epic story of endurance through the ages.
With 153 stunning color photographs, On Ancient Wings presents sandhill cranes in their wild but increasingly compromised habitats today. Over the course of five years, Michael Forsberg documented the tall gray birds in habitats ranging from the Alaskan tundra to the arid High Plains, from Cuban nature preserves to suburban backyards. With an eye for beauty and an uncommon persistence, the author documents the cranes’ challenges to adapt and survive in a rapidly changing natural world. Forsberg argues that humankind, for its own sake, should secure the cranes’ place in the future. On Ancient Wings intertwines the lives of cranes, people, and their common places to tell an ancient story at a time when sandhill cranes and their wetland and grassland habitats face daunting prospects.
"...and the sky blackened with dark, gray bodies. In the blurry confusion, John lost Mary." So begins Have You Seen Mary?, a fictional account of one sandhill crane's faithful search during spring migration for his lost mate. Set on Nebraska's Platte River, Jeff Kurrus weaves a tender story of love while also teaching us about these majestic birds. Supported with wondrous color photographs taken by Michael Forsberg, this paperback book will appeal to all ages for its ability to entertain as well as educate readers about sandhill cranes.
The Great Plains were once among the greatest grasslands on the planet. But as the United States and Canada grew westward, the Plains were plowed up, fenced in, overgrazed, and otherwise degraded. Today, this fragmented landscape is the most endangered and least protected ecosystem in North America. But all is not lost on the prairie.Through lyrical photographs, essays, historical images, and maps, the beautifully illustrated Great Plains - America's Lingering Wild gets beneath the surface of the Plains, revealing the lingering wild that still survives and whose diverse natural communities, native creatures, migratory traditions, and natural systems together create one vast and extraordinary whole.
Three broad geographic regions in Great Plains are covered in detail, evoked in the unforgettable and often haunting images taken by Michael Forsberg. Between the fall of 2005 and the winter of 2008, Forsberg traveled roughly 100,000 miles across 12 states and three provinces, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, to complete the photographic fieldwork for this project, underwritten by The Nature Conservancy. Complementing Forsberg’s images and firsthand accounts are essays by Great Plains scholar David Wishart and acclaimed writer Dan O’Brien. Each section of the book begins with a thorough overview by Wishart, while O’Brien—a wildlife biologist and rancher as well as a writer—uses his powerful literary voice to put the Great Plains into a human context, connecting their natural history with man’s uses and abuses.
The Great Plains are a dynamic but often forgotten landscape—overlooked, undervalued, misunderstood, and in desperate need of conservation. This book helps lead the way forward, informing and inspiring readers to recognize the wild spirit and splendor of this irreplaceable part of the planet.
Graced with illustrations by the author, Crane Music introduces the two North American crane species. The sandhill, most often seen, is within easy reach of bird-watchers in the center of the continent. Less visible is the whooping crane, struggling back from near extinction. Paul Johnsgard follows these elegant birds through a year’s cycle, describing their seasonal migrations, natural habitats, breeding biology, call patterns—angelic to the bird-lover’s ear—and fascinating dancing.The largest and most spectacular migratory concentration of cranes happens each spring when the Platte River valley becomes the staging ground for an amazing gathering of four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand sandhills en route from the south to the Arctic tundra. Johnsgard describes this incredible event as well as memorable personal encounters with the cranes. His knowledge of them transcends natural history, covering their importance in religion and mythology.
Driving west from Lincoln to Grand Island, Nebraska, Paul A. Johnsgard remarks, is like driving backward in time. “I suspect,” he says, “that the migrating cranes of a pre–ice age period some ten million years ago would fully understand every nuance of the crane conversation going on today along the Platte.”
Johnsgard has spent nearly a half century observing cranes, from a yearly foray to Nebraska’s Platte River valley to see the spring migration, to pilgrimages to the birds’ wintering grounds in Arizona and nesting territory in Alaska. In Sandhill and Whooping Cranes he draws from his own extensive experience as well as the latest science to offer a richly detailed and deeply felt account of the ecology of sandhill and whooping cranes and the wetlands in which they live.
Incorporating current information on changing migration patterns, population trends, and breeding ranges, Johnsgard explains the life cycle of the crane, as well as the significance of these species to our natural world. He also writes frankly of the uncertain future of these majestic birds, as cranes and their habitats face the effects of climate change and increasing human population pressures. Illustrated with the author’s own ink drawings and containing a detailed guide to crane-viewing sites in the United States and Canada, this book is at once an invaluable reference and an eloquent testimony to how much these birds truly mean.
Take a look inside the lives of sandhill cranes with this informative little book put together by Rowe's former Education Director, Keanna Leonard, and volunteer Caryl McHarney. Private Lives of Sandhill Cranes focuses on crane behavior, but includes lots of interesting facts about sandhill cranes and cranes in general.
Ever wondered what it would be like to be a sandhill crane chick? Well, now is your chance. Come join Salvador the Sandhill Crane for his first busy week. Rich photography tells the story of a family of sandhill cranes as they nurture a newly hatched chick, Salvador. This is a story about Salvador's parents' patience, protection and guidance during his first busy week. Enjoy photography that allows close-up observation of the fascinating life of sandhill cranes.
Book Category: Children's Ages 3-10 Book Size: 9.5 x 9 inches No. of Pages: 32
Accompanied by the stunning photography of Thomas D. Mangelsen, A Chorus of Cranes details the natural history, biology, and conservation issues surrounding the abundant sandhill crane and endangered whooping crane in North America. Author Paul A. Johnsgard, one of the leading authorities on cranes and crane biology, describes the fascinating social behaviors, beautiful natural habitats, and grueling seasonal migrations that have stirred the hearts of people as far back as medieval times and garnered the crane a place in folklore and mythology across continents.
Johnsgard has substantially updated and significantly expanded his 1991 work Crane Music, incorporating new information on the biology and status of these two North American cranes and providing abbreviated summaries on the other thirteen crane species of the world. The stories of these birds and their contrasting fates provide an instructive and moving history of bird conservation in North America. A Chorus of Cranes is a gorgeous and invaluable resource for crane enthusiasts, birders, natural historians, and conservationists alike.
This book is a softcover, 9" x 12", with 208 pages, 38 color photographs and 41 line art illustrations.
Featuring 100 species of birds from coast to coast this colorful guide helps kids identify and understand birds. The National Geographic Kids Bird Guide of North America will be both accessible and tons of fun. Fifty of the country's most popular birds will be laid out in stunning two-page spreads that will include information such as their range,the sounds they make, and the food they like to eat. Each profile will also include a cool or weird fun fact, and a feature called "A Closer Look," which digs deeper into one aspect of the bird's life (eating habits, bird songs, etc.). Each profile will also display a fact box with the bird's scientific name, weight, length, and wingspan.
Kids will also find tons of fun facts, bright and bold colors, full-color photographs, and layering of information that makes everything jump off the page. Birds will be organized by habitat, and habitat spreads will show where different birds live within each environment. The guide also explains all the basics that kids need to know about spotting birds. Features will include activities, such as how to build a birdhouse and how to build a bird feeder, sidebars highlighting fascinating info, lists, range maps, and much more. Conservation information, a find out more section, glossary, and index will add ample back matter to round out this book.
Birds, Nests and Eggs is a fun,informative take-along guide that will help children identify 15 birds. Kids will also learn how and where birds build their homes and all about their young. Plus the guide features activities that are fun and easy to do. There's also a seven-page scrapbook for drawings and notes. This guide invites young naturalists to spot wildlife. Safety tips are provided and interesting activities are sugested. Color illustrations enhance the presentation.
Paperback: 48 pages
Age Range: 5-10
How would you feel if you didn't have a name? This idea spurred Mary Henning and Bob Heiden to collaborate and create I Wish … I Had a Name, a 26-page illustrated children’s picture book. This is a story about a river that didn’t have a name. All of the animals that had names would come along and talk to the river. The story developed as the animals picked a name for the river. By the end of the book, all readers will cherish their own special names!
A comprehensive book on Rowe Sanctuary, which sits strategically along the central Platte River near Gibbon, Neb., located at the nexus of the migration routes for up to 600,000 sandhill cranes each spring.
Features of the Rowe Sanctuary book include
Make bird watching in Nebraska even more enjoyable! With Stan Tekiela’s famous field guide, bird identification is simple and informative. There’s no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don’t live in your area. This book features 117 species of Nebraska birds, organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don’t know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. Fact-filled information, a compare feature, range maps, and detailed photographs help to ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.
For avian enthusiasts, from armchair observers to dedicated life-listers, this brilliant book from acclaimed National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore celebrates the beauty of all birds, great and small. This elegantly packaged celebration of birds from around the world unites incredible animal portraits from Joel Sartore's distinguished National Geographic Photo Ark project with inspiring text by up-and-coming birder Noah Strycker. It includes hundreds of species, from tiny finches to charismatic eagles; brilliant toucans, intricate birds of paradise, and perennial favorites such as parrots, hummingbirds, and owls also make colorful appearances. Everyone who cares about birds--from the family with a bird feeder outside the kitchen window to the serious birder with a life list of thousands--will flock to this distinctive and uplifting book.
A pair of piping plovers struggle to raise their young on a beach where humans and their influence threaten both parents and chicks. Biologists help out by erecting a protective exclosure and all survive. Readers learn the importance of habitat for wild animals.
Appreciate the Adornment of Birds with this paperback book by Stan Tekeila, a National Outdoor Book Award Honorable Mention recipient
Feathers--possible the most amazing body covering in the entire animal kingdom. No other covering does all that feathers do. From the delicate down that keep birds warm to the sturdy flight feathers that allow them to soar, these marvelous structures are something to admire. This book is filled with stunning, incomparable photos, and it promises to delight as it walks you through the world of feathers.
The state hosts boiling riverbeds, puzzling fossil beds, and sandstone toadstools, not to mention a now dormant sea of sand that once moved fast enough to dam rivers; and these Sand Hills could be on the march again as the global climate warms. Changing climate influenced much of Nebraska's geology, from the waxing and waning of continental glaciers to the extinction of some of Nebraska's former inhabitants. You'll discover badlands, braided rivers, fossil rhinos entombed in volcanic ash, and the largest dune field in the Western Hemisphere.
This overview of Nebraska history leads both visitors and residents on an in-depth tour of the state's past. Divided into five geographic divisions, the book follows roadways to all the well-known and many lesser-known points of interest. From early French and Spanish explorers to modern agriculture and the ongoing plight of Native Americans, the complete story of Nebraska unfolds here.
Where the eastern and western currents of American life merge as smoothly as one river flows into another is a place called Nebraska. There we find the Platte, a river that gave sustenance to the countless migrants who once trudged westward along the Mormon and Oregon trails. We find the Sandhills, a vast region of sandy grassland that represents the largest area of dunes and the grandest and least disturbed region of mixed-grass prairies in all the Western Hemisphere. And, below it all, we find the Ogallala aquifer, the largest potential source of unpolluted water anywhere.
These ecological treasures are all part of the nature of Nebraska. With characteristic clarity, energy, and charm, Paul A. Johnsgard guides us through Nebraska’s incredible biodiversity, introducing us to each ecosystem and the flora and fauna it sustains and inviting us to contemplate the purpose and secrets of the natural world as we consider our own roles and responsibilities in our connection with it.
In What It's Like to Be a Bird, David Sibley answers the most frequently asked questions about the birds we see most often. This special, large-format volume is geared as much to nonbirders as it is to the out-and-out obsessed, covering more than two hundred species and including more than 330 new illustrations by the author. While its focus is on familiar backyard birds—blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees—it also examines certain species that can be fairly easily observed, such as the seashore-dwelling Atlantic puffin. David Sibley's exacting artwork and wide-ranging expertise bring observed behaviors vividly to life. (For most species, the primary illustration is reproduced life-sized.) And while the text is aimed at adults—including fascinating new scientific research on the myriad ways birds have adapted to environmental changes—it is nontechnical, making it the perfect occasion for parents and grandparents to share their love of birds with young children, who will delight in the big, full-color illustrations of birds in action.
Cranes can soar with your support!