Those of the Gray Wind: The Sandhill Cranes

by Paul A. Johnsgard

With Paul A. Johnsgard, we follow the migration of the sandhill cranes from the American Southwest to their Alaskan breeding grounds and back again, an annual pattern that has persisted over millions of years. By selecting four historic time frames of the migration between 1860 and 1980, Johnsgard illustrates how humans have influenced the flocks and how different American cultures have variously responded to the birds and perceived their value.

Each section focuses on the interactions between children of four different American cultures and sandhill cranes, triggered by events occurring during the annual life cycle of the cranes. The story is enriched by the author’s exquisite illustrations, by Zuni prayers, and by Inuit and Pueblo legends. With a new preface and afterword and a new gallery of photographs by the author,  Those of the Gray Wind is a classic story of a timeless ritual that can be enjoyed for generations to come.
 

Genres: Nature, Fiction, Animals, Birds

174 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book that looks at the migration of the sandhill cranes through four fictional stories set in four different time periods - 1860, 1900, 1940, and 1980. Through the stories of four children and their interactions with the cranes - healing a sick one, encountering them while searching for food, killing one accidentally while duck hunting, and observing their migration and role as part of longstanding Pueblo Native American tradition - the reader learns about these majestic birds and how their fortunes have waxed and waned in North America over the course of nearly two centuries (although they are older by an order of millennia). Although the characters are fictitious, as he points out, "the locations and descriptions of the places concerned are as factual as possible, as are the descriptions of the biology and behavior of the cranes. The folklore and legends are authentic, and all of the descriptions of crane behavior are based either on personal observation or on reliable descriptions by other persons" (Author's Note). This fiction/nonfiction hybrid makes the book unique in my experience of books about individual bird species, and it's a keeper for my birding collection.
The author's afterword is informative and enlightening, and he also shares his own illustrations as well as Zuñi poetry and prayers that enhance the stories.

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning. The only sandhill fiction I’ve come across and I really loved it. More people should write creatively about birds!!!

[Mike S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so curious as to Paul Johnsgard's perceived intended audience when he wrote the four vignettes that comprised the original book. The non-sandhill crane characters seem to mostly be children in the middle grade age range and the writing seems like it might be geared that way too. Like, I could have imagined myself reading this in fourth grade or something. Kind of weird to try to best present your research subject through fictionalized storytelling with an eye toward factually detailing the species and its migratory habits. Anyway, it feels contemporary to 1980, but is at least sympathetic to conservation efforts, preserving nature, as well as the disaster white people presented (and genocide towards, really) Native peoples in America. The much more recent afterword in this edition presented a welcome update (2016-17?) and I'd argue are what qualifies this book to be filed in 598.32. Wild how passionate Johnsgard remained about sandhill cranes at that update, which would have put his age well into his mid-80s. His eager yearly observation of the birds in his native Nebraska seems a spiritual experience for him and I think I admire that, honestly. Find you some birds that make you spill forth flowery effusive prose, or I dunno, just download the Merlin app and try to enjoy the world around you and take some fleeting joy from the wildness that surrounds it while it and while we last.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband and I have a beautiful thirty-acre field to the east of our condo. Our living room has large windows to watch the wildlife in our field. Last summer we watched a pair of Sandhill Cranes bring their young offspring to the field. There was only one and he/she was at best a foot tall yellowish chick when we first saw him. We watched all summer as they came to feed in the field full of seeds, insects and small animals. The young bird grew to three-fourths of his parents size and learned to fly. In late October they were gone.
Enamored of these birds we went looking for books about them. The most intriguing one was this book. Looking up the author, we were disappointed to find we'd only discovered him after he had died.
The book is divided into four chapters. The chapters take place in 1860, 1900, 1940 and 1980. Each chapter tells a tale about sandhill cranes and people. It is fiction, but tells the details of how the birds live and migrate north and south over our continent.
A loving tale and educational. It's a short book and is easy to read.
A good book for all bird lovers.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This YA book consists of a series of 4 bareboned short stories set 20 years apart between 1860 and 1980. Each story highlights one segment of sandhill crane migration from their spring resting place along the Platte River in Nebraska to their nesting sites in Alaska, and then their return journey via Colorado and New Mexico to their wintering grounds in Texas. The stories describe the risks that the cranes face during their journeys, and the threats to their continued existence. There is also an allusion to their cultural significance.

The stories are followed by a brief essay providing facts and figures on sandhill crane populations, and details concerning threats to them.

This is nice very basic introduction to the lives of sandhill cranes.

[Sharlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful book. A beautiful insight into the great migration of the Sandhill Cranes and their fantastic journey throughout the continent. They are such amazing birds and this book shows you their beauty, struggles, achievements, growth and bonds. The different interactions that the birds have with man shows how different people respond and react to the cranes. The Zuni prayers fit well with the stories and are very beautiful. A great read for any bird enthusiast or nature lover!

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short book featuring the four seasons of migration for sandhill cranes. I grew up along the Platte River in Nebraska and was fortunate to experience the spring arrival of the cranes many times.
The vees in the sky as they fly in -- their calls to each other -- their dances -- all wonderful memories that this book captures beautifully -- along with sketches of the cranes -- plus one
sketch of the endangered and very elusive whooping crane.

[Deirdre Collins]

“They are finishing a journey that had spanned an entire continent, and that they and their ancestors had traced and retraced for nearly 10 million years. Their pattern for survival had long ago been fixed into o an endless seasonal repetition of tundra, mountains, and plains, and of recurring birth, death, and rebirth…The cranes would continue to ease the earths waters, tread lightly on its plains, and embrace the sky for as long as mankind allows them to do so”

[Jessica Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick and light read blending narrative and science about Sandhill cranes. I actually just came back from a hunting trip for these cranes, and so it was interesting to learn more about them and how they got to the Texas panhandle.

He has many other books about cranes and other birds, and I’m intrigued to see what else he has written! I love these nature stories that feel a little bit like a memoir, and this was a nice addition to the other books I’ve read that are similar.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this book as a gift from my mother in 1985. I only just read it now. I had the wonderful experience of falling in love with the Sandhill Cranes at Bosque in New Mexico. I don’t think I would’ve appreciated this small book, outlining the life of the cranes, unless I saw them in person. It is wonderfully written, quiet and moving.

[Allison Hudec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a little insight into the lives of these beautiful birds and all that they’ve been through and what they go through every year to survive. One of my favorite birds, and I’ll never forget the first time I saw one!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by Paul A Johnsgard, deceased, UNL Biology professor. Fiction. Covers 4 migrations over 120 years. Good biology, with some history, and ecology. Johnsgard does a fine job of capturing the spirit of the crane.

[Kaylene Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely book, read on the wings of two cranes taking leave of our place this fall. It offered stories and some natural history information that I did not find from other sources.

[Maggie Bayerl]

This is just a beautiful story and I love Sandhill Cranes. Fun to read when they're actively migrating and you can hear their calls while you're reading the stories.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read covering all the seasons of the cranes lives, different time periods and cultural stories of cranes.

[Kiara · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun read! i love sandhill cranes and this book.

[Judy Gacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnsgard is an ornithologist, artist and professor emeritus at University of Nebraska and has written fifty books. This is a small but delightful book.

[Manon Buderus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok..... not really my type of book but it still tied in facts with a fictional story very well.

[MarkedWoman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a good read for a young person. I found it informative land it was interesting how the author moved through time with the advancing seasons. Well put together although not particularly exciting.