Cranes For thousands of years, poets and painters in the whole world have dedicated poetry and prose to these beautiful birds; there are 16 different members in the worldwide family. Pictures of cranes grace Chinese silk and Japanese porcelain. In Germany, the poet Friedrich Schiller honored them in “Die Kraniche des Ibykus, Albrecht Dürer drew them. Elias Ridinger engraved them in copper. All were inspired by the crane’s resounding call, its impressive form, its mating dances. Hardly any other bird elicits as much attention as the crane. In late March and early April tens of thousands of visitors arrive at the spring resting place at Hornborga Lake in Vastergotland in Sweden. Many - often the same - visitors travel to Vorpommern, to Darß, to Rügen, to greet the cranes on their migration northwards. Some crane lovers even travel to the south of France or Spain in the Extremadura, to observe the birds in their winter habitat. It would be wonderful if other birds enjoyed this amount of attention.