You've been treated to a quintet of fascinating blogs this week about the greatest dancers from stage, screen and nightclub. Coming late to the action as I do on a Saturday, I often feel duty-bound, for variety's sake, to strike a different note and go tripping off along some alternative path. The one I've chosen today leads us into the ritual and romance of the feathered world.
It's tempting to think of dance as a human social activity and artform, but lots of birds, when it comes time to find a mate, indulge in fantastic displays and courtship routines, and given that birds predate ourselves by about 150 million years, it's a fair bet they've been dancing ever since dinosaurs were doing the swamp stomp.
Is it only me who sees similarities between the elegance of Red Crowned Cranes and those more prosaic red-topped machines that dance gracefully on many a city skyline? Such a comparison was the catalyst for this latest poem from the imaginarium.
It's tempting to think of dance as a human social activity and artform, but lots of birds, when it comes time to find a mate, indulge in fantastic displays and courtship routines, and given that birds predate ourselves by about 150 million years, it's a fair bet they've been dancing ever since dinosaurs were doing the swamp stomp.
There's a wealth of live footage available from nature programmes about the agile, colourful and fancy routines that some species in the avian world have evolved to impress the ladies. Just type dancing birds into your web browser of choice if you don't believe me. Some of the footage is even rather cleverly set to music. In preparation for this blog I've watched a good few hours of wildlife clips documenting our fancier feathered friends going through their moves, from comical disco cockatoos to balletic swans, and all sorts of accomplished strutters, jivers, leapers, wing-wagglers and tail-feather flutterers in between. This research enabled me to draw up a short list of my personal favourites for your benefit, if you want to make your searches more specific. I give you my...
Top Ten Dancing Birds:
01 Red Crowned Crane (aka Japanese Crane)
02 Carola's Parotia (aka Queen Carola's Bird-of-Paradise)
03 Hummingbird (many fabulous varieties)
04 Manakin (including Blue-Backed, Crimson-Hooded, Golden-Winged)
05 Bliue-Footed Booby
06 Albatross (including Black-Footed, Laysan, Sooty, Waved)
07 Hooded Grebe
08 Sharp-Tailed Grouse
09 Superb Lyrebird
10 Andean Flamingo
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| Red Crowned Cranes (i) |
The stunning Red Crowned Crane is top of my list for a very good reason, as you can see for yourselves - a video in this case is worth a thousand words - if you click on the link here: Dancing Cranes
These beautiful but now sadly endangered birds are positively balletic in their movements, a dance ritual which they perform in pairs at mating time. There are only a few thousand Red Crowned Cranes left in the wild, inhabiting the Japanese island of Hokkaido and parts of mainland China and Korea. They are monogamous and mate for life, so when they reach maturity (at about four years old) their spectacular dance parties are the primary means by which young cranes attract and bond with a partner.
They are such graceful creatures, it is no wonder that they are long-revered in Japanese and Chinese art, culture and mythology. They symbolise not just beauty and elegance but spirituality, fidelity, morality and nobility. The Japanese used to say that Red Crowned Cranes lived for a thousand years, though thirty to seventy years is nearer the mark. Conservation schemes are underway to try and preserve the habitats of these wonderful birds and to reverse the alarming decline in numbers. Long may they dance.
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| Red Crowned Cranes (ii) |
Cranes
He only ever saw her in hard hat, dungarees and hi-viz vest
commanding the crane next to his. They waved sometimes
from their aerial cabs, sharing the finest view over the city
as they choreographed their way through long grafting days
of Shard building. He imagined intimacy in isolation, a nest
out west perhaps with a red-tiled roof, daily prepared packets
of cheese and pickle in greaseproof, nights of love after telly,
maybe eventually her swelling belly and a child of their own.
There was snow on the ground the day she fell. He could only
hold his breath as he watched her arcing soundlessly below...
Thanks for reading, S ;-)