Caesar

All Cranes have a unique anatomy feature. They have a very long windpipe, 1.5m long, designed carefully and coiled within the hollowed heel of the breastbone, to make their loud trumpeting sound, rather in the way of a French Horn brass instrument.

Cranes, of which there are 15 species, are closely related to Trumpeters and Limpkins and may well have come from common created ancestors.

Ours are European Cranes (Grus grus) and named after the naturalist who discovered them.

They also fly with their necks outstretched, unlike herons which fly with their necks in an ‘S’ shape. They also, unusually, but like Rheas and Ostriches, have no crop to store their food in before digestion.

Cranes are renowned for their lifelong pairing, staying paired together even in groups, and also for their parenting skills. They prefer wading and walking to flying.

Their diet is mainly seeds and berries, and of course the cranberry is named after their liking of them. They also eat insects and other small creatures.

They typically lay two eggs and both parents help incubate the eggs and rear the young. In the wild they migrate thousands of miles to winter in warmer areas for food.

Cranes have been known to live for over 80 years and males to become parents in their 70’s.