Community Magazine August 2016

Excerpts from Exploring the Wild World of Animals, by Efraim Harari, published by Israel Bookshop Publications. Be sure to check out the newest book in this animals series, Exploring the Wild World of Animals & BIRDS. Now available at all Judaica stores and on Amazon. MarvelsofCreation from aTorahPerspective HARARI NEW Did You Know? JAPANESE CRANE WHOOPING CRANE The Japanese crane, also called the red crowned crane, is a large East-Asian crane and is the largest bird in Japan. It stands nearly five feet tall, weighs twenty-two pounds, and can live more than sixty years. It has a red crown, and black and white markings on its wings and body. Like all cranes, the Japanese cranes are elaborate dancers. They dance in pairs in various situations. The dancing ritual starts when one crane bows its head, flaps its wings, and jumps up and down with outstretched wings. Another crane joins in, and the pair dances in harmony, often inspiring other pairs of cranes to start a dance duet as well. The whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America, averaging five feet in height. It nests in northwestern North America and, during the winter, on the gulf coast of Texas. The whooping crane is an endangered species, although it has grown from a low of just fifteen cranes in 1941 to about six hundred of them today. The whooping crane gets its name from its loud, trumpeting call. The windpipe of the whooping crane is very long, and it coils about nine inches into the crane’s breast bone when it calls. This is what enables the whooping crane to produce sounds that can be heard at great distances. The crane’s windpipe is longer than that of any other bird! TAMUZ - AV 5776 AUGUST 2016 91