Click the image to the left to go to the National Audubon Society’s website to read the entire announcement:

George Archibald is the first recipient of the Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership.  As founder of the International Crane Foundation (ICF), he has devoted his life to protecting cranes and their ecosystems around the world and to helping thousands of people understand, and be inspired by, the global significance of bird conservation.

In 1973, with fellow Cornell University graduate student Ron Sauey, George Archibald founded ICF, which has since evolved into a world-renowned organization. While Dr. Archibald is famous for raising crane chicks in captivity, imprinting chicks on people dressed to resemble adult cranes, and using ultra-light aircraft to guide young cranes on their first migrations, his portfolio is far more extensive than just these high-profile instances.

For coverage in the New York Times, including an interview, click here:

…Recently we spoke with  him about his continuing love affair with cranes and his foundation’s conservation efforts around the world. Following are excerpts, edited for brevity and clarity.

Q. You have devoted your life to the conservation of cranes, but why cranes? What is their fascination for you?

A. Well, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to birds and cranes as sort of like super-birds. They are just magnificent, almost magical birds. They are the tallest flying birds in the world and have complicated and beautiful behaviors — they dance and duet and have all kinds of vocal and visual languages in ways that seem to be human-like. They are devoted to a single mate for life and rear just one or two chicks at a time. Because of this and other factors, they are also one of the most endangered groups of birds.

Read the entire article here.