Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
12
Which Is Which? The Heron and the Crane
MYTHS
Herons and cranes are the same thing.
All North American cranes are endangered.
Cranes eat mostly fish.
Both cranes and herons roost and nest in trees.
IN ONE OF THE MOST PREVALENT CASES OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY IN THE REALM OF
WILDLIFE, OUR LARGEST HERON, THE GREAT BLUE
(ARDEA HERODIAS)
IS TIME AND
AGAIN REFERRED TO AS A CRANE. Over and over I've heard people here in the Northeast, for
example, call a great blue heron a crane; alas for accuracy, the only cranes known in this region, histor-
ically or otherwise, are fire-place cranes and construction cranes!
Perhaps this misidentification isn't too surprising. To those with only a passing interest in wildlife,
there are several similarities between the great blue heron and our North American cranes: both are tall,
long-legged, imposing, and most commonly found around water. Although these similarities are some-
what superficial, they can undeniably be misleading. Whatever their apparent resemblance, however,
the great blue and the cranes aren't even closely related, and belong to entirely separate families. As
will become evident, their differences are much greater than their similarities.
Most people who are unfamiliar with cranes automatically assume they're an endangered species.
That, of course, is because the splendid whooping crane
(Grus americana)
is indeed endangered; in
fact, it was what might be called the original poster child for North American species of wildlife that
are endangered or threatened. The sandhill crane
(Grus canadensis),
however, is far from endangered.
Some 500,000 migrate annually through Nebraska's Platte River Valley, while another 30,000 to 35,000
migrate from the western Great Lakes region to Florida.
