Cranes, Herons & Egrets: The Elegance of Our Tallest Birds (Wildlife Appreciation)

Product Description

Develop a New Appreciation for These Unique Birds
When you imagine these graceful, elegant birds, perhaps you picture them in shallow water, standing on one leg, waiting for fish. But there’s much more to these cultural touchstones. Award-winning photographer Stan Tekiela takes you into the fascinating world of cranes, herons and egrets. His striking photography captures the birds in action and depicts behaviors that will leave you awestruck. Headings and small blocks of text make for easy yet informative browsing.Discover North America’s tallest birds through Stan’s personal observations and years of research. Everything about them is interesting, from how they walk to how they fly to how tall they are. These historic birds are ingrained in folklore around the world. Stan has photographed every important aspect of their lives, from first flight and hunting to migration and mating. The result is a one-of-a-kind book that celebrates these wonderful creatures.

About the Author

Naturalist, wildlife photographer, and writer Stan Tekiela is the author of more than 175 field guides, nature books, children’s books, wildlife audio CDs, puzzles, and playing cards, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers, and cacti in the United States. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural History from the University of Minnesota and as an active professional naturalist for more than 25 years, Stan studies and photographs wildlife throughout the United States and Canada. He has received various national and regional awards for his books and photographs. Also a well-known columnist and radio personality, his syndicated column appears in more than 25 newspapers, and his wildlife programs are broadcast on a number of Midwest radio stations. Stan can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

LONG, POINTED BILLS
The bill, also called the beak, is one of many unique features of birds. Bills are made of keratin―a lightweight, but very strong, material. While some bills have fine serrations or a large hook, others are sharply pointed. Cranes, herons and egrets have exceptionally long bills with sharp points.
Sizes and colors may vary, but all bills are similar in structure and function. Cranes, herons and egrets use their straight, dagger-like bills to cut through water and stab fish. The cranes also pierce mice, snakes, frogs, toads, worms and other prey items.
Birds use their bills for more than just preening and feeding. Cranes, herons and egrets carry sticks in their bills to build nests, manipulating branches of various sizes and also managing finer plant materials during the construction process. In addition, the bill is used for defense or, in some cases, to act out aggressively.
WEAK SENSE OF SMELL
All of these birds have enlarged olfactory centers in their brains, but despite this, they have a weak sense of smell, and they don’t use their nostrils to find food. Cranes eat a smorgasbord of items, from fish, seeds and grains to insects, amphibians and small mammals. Herons and egrets dine mainly on fish. To locate these kinds of underwater provisions, the birds use their eyes. The sense of smell plays no part.
EYES FOR HUNTING
Excellent sight and eye placement are vital for these birds to find food. Eye placement on the sides of the head allows for better peripheral vision but makes for poor binocular sight. However, with eyes slightly forward on the head, the vision from each eye overlaps, providing decent sight in front and fairly good depth perception. Thus, the birds can capture tiny fish or pick up corn kernels or other morsels directly ahead of the bill.
Herons and egrets can hunt for food day and night, due, in part, to increased rods in the back of their eyes―which greatly improves vision during low-light conditions. This helps when hunting late in the day or just before daybreak. It may also help them see