Crane Specialist Group

The Crane Specialist Group is dedicated to promoting the study and conservation of the world’s fifteen crane species and the ecosystems on which they depend. Profile: Download here

The International Crane Foundation (ICF) supports activities of the Crane Specialist Group. The Crane Specialist Group has 247 members from 56 countries. We also coordinate our activities with regional crane working groups each with a specific geographic focus, including the European Crane Working Group, the Crane Working Group of Eurasia, the Crane and Waterbird Working Group of the China Ornithological Society, the North East Asia Crane Site Network Working Group, the North American Crane Working Group, the African Cranes, Wetlands, and Communities Programme, the South African Crane Working Group, and others. Membership in the Crane Specialist Group is open to researchers and conservationists who have demonstrated an active commitment to working on cranes and ecoystems where they live. Memebers receive an electronic version of the quartely newsletter in the International crane Foundation, The ICF Bugle. An archive of past issues is also available.

To become a supporting member of the International crane Foundation, go to www.savingcranes.org and navigate to Support ICF>Membership. There, you can sign up online or print a membership form. You can also join by calling ICF at 1-608-356-9462 ext. 101.

ICF is headquartered on a 225-acre property in Wisconsin consisting of 90 acres of restored grassland, wetland and oak savanna and the only complete captive collection of the world’s 15 crane species.

International Crane Workshop (25th May-3rd of June 2010) in Muraviovka Park, Russia

The Crane Specialist Group, in affiliation with Wetlands International and cooperating with the International Crane Foundation convened a workshop from May 28 – June 3, 2010. Twenty-eight specialists representing the various crane working groups around the world and diverse disciplines, will make presentations, discuss strategy, and create action plans related to:
(1) the interaction of cranes with agriculture
(2) the impacts of climate change on cranes

North American Crane Workshop on 13-16 March 2011, Grand Island, Nebraska

NACWG is meeting jointly with the Waterbird Society, and the preceding week (9-13 March) there will be a joint meeting of the Cooper Ornithological Society, Wilson’s Ornithological Society, and Association of Field Ornithologists. For more information about the meetings, check out the web sites at 

Publications and Documents of interest

In 1996, with support from the Species Survival Commission of IUCN, ICF prepared a Crane Action Plan: Mein CD, Archibald GW. 1996. The cranes: status survey and conservation action plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. A Crane Husbandry Manual, prepared in part by ICF is also available online: Ellis DH, Gee GF, Mirande CM, eds. 1996. Cranes: their biology, husbandry and cosnervation. Washington, D.C.: Dept of the Interior, National Biological Service, International Crane Foundation.

At ICF, the Ron Sauey Library for Bird Conservation has the world’s largest collection of materials related to cranes, the places important to them, their captive health and their conservation in the wild. Many of these materials are available electronically on the website or by contacting the librarian.

A free downloadable photo gallery of crane species is available online, as well as an extensive image collection that is accessible by contacting our photo editor. A variety of education materials are available for students and teachers in English, Chinese, Russian, or Spanish.