Those of the Gray Wind
By: Paul A. Johnsgard
How Paul A. Johnsgard used Fiction to Tell About the Cranes
Johnsgard told his book from the cranes point of view. This gave the reader an idea of how the cranes acted at different times in their lives. Another was when the girl found the crane when it was hurt. The crane eventually got used to the things the girl did for him and acted a certain way at certain times.
How Johnsgard Used Facts to Tell About the Cranes
Paul picks out the details, like actions, and tells the reader about them in an easy and more fun way. He provides the details of the cranes quite vividly and makes it so the book is easy to follow along.
Migration Routes
The Cranes travel from New Mexico, Mexico, and Texas and travel through Oklahoma, Kansas. The cranes then stop in Nebraska at the Platte River. After that they disperse and fly to Canada, Alaska or all the way up to Siberia
Family
The female crane starts producing eggs during there stay in the Platte, then when the cranes arrive at their destination they have the eggs there. The parents incubate the eggs until the babies are hatched at different times. The male and female cranes take turns incubating the eggs.
Habitats and Foods
The cranes like an open and very shallow river so that they are able to escape when predators are near. Cranes stay on the ground because of their short back toes. They eat snails, insects, crawfish, frogs, and other bugs.
Physical Attributes
5-14 pounds and range from 3-6 feet tall. Some cranes are shorter than that and some cranes are taller than that but the average is around that range. Cranes can fly about 30-50 mph. They have a huge wingspan which gives them great leverage when they are flying. They are also great dancers and act a lot like humans
Rowe Sanctuary Experience
Watching the cranes act like us humans made me realize how similar other animals are to us. The things that some animals do is exactly like humans. Watching the cranes fly over head made me also realize that we need to save the cranes and protect them and try to get the Platte back to its old self. Even though that is not possible, it would be nice to try and do something nice for the birds.