Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances". They mate for life. Some species of cranes migrate over long distances, while cranes in warm climates do not migrate at all. Cranes are gregarious, forming large flocks where their numbers are sufficient.
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The cranes' beauty and their spectacular mating dances have made them highly symbolic birds from earliest times. Crane myth is as widely separated and universal as the Aegean, South Arabia, Japan and Amerindian North America. In northern Hokkaido, the women of the Ainu people, whose culture is more Siberian than Japanese, performed a crane dance that was captured in 1908 in a photograph by Arnold Genthe. In Korea, a crane dance has been performed in the courtyard of the Tongd ...
