#sandhill crane chick

[geezerwench]

Young Nature Photographers | Second Place

A day-old sandhill crane chick peeks out from its parent’s protective feathers at a park in Michigan known for its abundance of waterfowl. John Fortener, now 16, had gone to the park on a rainy April morning knowing that eggs from the area’s nesting sandhill cranes would be ready to hatch.

Using a zoom from a safe distance, he was delighted to see the tiny head pop in and out of this feathery tent. His advice to other young photographers? “Get outside as much as possible and just watch.”

[sitting-on-me-bum]

“Sandhill Crane Mama Feeding Colts”

by Mario Labado​, United States

2023 Nature Conservancy photo contest

[ornithological]

everyone say thank you to livecams for birds

[great-and-small]

I recently watched a video of a pair of Sandhill Cranes raising a Canada Gosling, and it seems that it isn't the first example of it in the last few years. Are cranes like penguins where they will steal eggs/hatchlings if they had an unsuccessful breeding season, or is there some other reason that they 'adopt' baby geese?

If you follow enough birding groups in Sandhill crane territory, you’ll eventually see someone post a baby duckling or goose that is following around a pair of cranes. It’s not common, but it happens enough to be a thing!

Sandhill cranes don’t seem to steal babies, but they have an extremely strong parenting instinct. If they find a baby that needs taking care of, you can bet they’re going to take damn good care of it. There are documented cases of Sandhill cranes adopting unrelated crane chicks as well as geese and domestic ducks. They just love babies. There has even been some research into using Sandhill cranes as foster parents for endangered whooping cranes in order to re-establish a non migrating population of the latter. Sandhill cranes are super parents!

[herpsandbirds]

Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis), mother with “colts”, family Gruidae, order Gruiformes, Orlando, FL, USA

Crane chicks are sometimes referred to as “colts”.

Sandhill Cranes breed in the far north of North America, and overwinter in the southern US and northern Mexico.

There are small separate southerly breeding populations in Mississippi, Florida, and Cuba, as well.

photograph by Ken Parish

[mutant-distraction]

Sandhill crane with chick

[kedreeva]

Follow up to the New Year's game ask, the kindness is actually one I've seen from several of the students I work with. With each group were playing a competitive board game they'd picked and one kiddo had a lot of the items to get past the obstacles while the other was having really bad luck. Well, when unlucky kiddo landed on a monster space and should have had to go backwards again, the other student asked if they could use one of their items to help and turn it into a team game instead, where they worked together to get each other to the end. That's what we do and it is so sweet to see a student wanting to help another not feel bad and get frustrated. I always ask if they want to play it competitive or team and I've had it happen where they pick competitive, but then will switch it to team if the other student is getting upset or sad. They just want to have fun playing the game and it's more enjoyable for them if the other student is having fun too.

That's so great actually!

This year, in Kensington Park, Michigan, a family of sandhill cranes raised a Canada goose as their own baby, alongside their own.

This was the first documented case of sandhill cranes raising a chick from outside their own genus!

[travelella]

Sandhill Cranes at Sawtooth Range, Idaho, USA

Tim Peterson

Conservation Status: As a species, they are not considered threatened. Mass: 7.1 – 11 lbs  Scientific name: Grus canadensis Nickname: rib eye of the sky  Class: Aves Domain: Eukaryota Family: Gruidae Genus: Antigone Habitat: Small bogs, marshes, prairies Flight Speed: 25-35 mph Flight Distance: 200-300 miles a day, but can reach 500 miles with a good tail wind. Range: Northern North America, Southeastern US, extreme Northeastern Siberia Diet: Omnivorous. Seeds, berries, roots, corn, wheat grains, rodents, snails, insects, frogs, lizards, and nestling birds.

Why are they important?

A 10 million year old sandhill crane fossil was found in Nebraska. This discovery makes them the oldest known surviving bird species. These living fossils still follow their ancient migratory routes from breeding grounds in the northern prairie marshes to southern wintering areas each fall.

They are considered one of the most successful life forms on Earth, having outlasted more than 99% of all species that ever existed.

Fun Facts:

Sandhill cranes mate for life and stay with their mates year-round

Chicks can leave the nest within 8 hours of hatching, and are even capable of swimming.

Sandhill cranes are territorial during the breeding seasons, and each pair will vigorously defend its nesting area.

Sandhill cranes "paint" themselves by preening mud into their feathers prior to the breeding season. Sandhill cranes preen because:

Helps them hide amid the brown vegetation in a marsh

Waterproofs feathers

Insulates feathers

Increased aerodynamics

Attracting a mate

Keeping a mate

[delightful-existence]

Day 1: I love the way that the earth rotates. I love being on a planet where I can experience seasons. The way that the frost coats the trees and the grass, the way big flakes slowly drift down from the clouds and almost seem to hang in the air- it all makes me feel as though I’m living in a snow globe. When winter is done, I look out my bedroom window and see the trees in my backyard suddenly blooming with buds. The park in my neighborhood is so full of green it hurts my eyes. I love walking through the woods near the back of my neighborhood and seeing the sandhill cranes parade their chicks through the stream. The same pair come back every year, and it’s become routine to watch them. As the temperatures get warmer I love sitting on my deck in the summer and basking in the sun. The freckles on my face suddenly become much more visible, and my skin gets the slightest hint of tan. I love the way the days get longer and longer. Near the middle of summer the sun never sets until 10 at night, and sunrise happens at 5. My room is situated so that when the sun rises it hits my walls, and I wake up to red beams and an amber glow. I love the sweet taste of popsicles and the refreshing cold of the lake. I sit on the docks with a net and a rod, catching bluegills and watching the painted turtles bask on a nearby log. As the days start to get shorter, I love the way the trees turn brilliant shades of red and orange during the autumn. I love the crunch beneath my boots whenever I walk through the leaves, and the honk of geese as they fly overhead, migrating to somewhere warmer. I love the autumn candles my mother burns near the kitchen, filling the house with the smell of apple cinnamon or pine trees. I love the fact that something as simple as a tilted axis lets me experience such a range of weather and temperatures.

[curioussatoru]

Now you get to choose which u answer.

If you want me to be nice, tell me the bird that:

Is found in Central America most of the year

Migrates into southwestern US during breeding season

Is bright yellow, both males and females

Sews nests to the undersides of palm leaves

Particularly loves oranges and caterpillars

But if you want me to be MEAN, tell me the bird that:

Has legs so long its chicks are named colts

Is grey with a red upper face

Is one of the oldest types of birds, having remained pretty much the same for 2 million years

Are omnivorous, typically feeding on berries and seeds, but sometimes small animals like mice and frogs

Can already swim 8 hours after leaving the nest

Also the fact that I am forcing u to learn about birds by bribing u with strap is very funny to me.

SANDHILL CRANE!!!!!

also, i am actually kind of loving it… methinks u should yap abt birds while i *** *** ***

[cassandragemini]

oc birdsonas list (Subject to change)

misha- blakiston's fish owl

while i generally try to associate characters with animals whos native ranges overlap with where theyre from im gonna give a little leeway on this one (misha is from northern mongolia in whats now khovsgol, these live in eastern china eastern siberia and hokkaido) cause it seems like it fits misha really really well. they share a big imposing frame and permanent death glare. these are the largest owls in the world and misha is 6'10 so like. i feel like that one makes sense

tseren - golden eagle

this one was probably the most obvious choice tbh. theyre a big assertive guy with a great sense of aim so the association with a big bird of prey thats a very precise hunter made sense for them

adelita - up in the air rn but im thinking Maybe a burrowing owl. all of my fairies are pretty explicitly tied to birds especially owls and adelita canonically grew up in a burrowing owl den. look at how round these things are

jacinta - elf owl or possibly a costa's hummingbird. elf owls are cactus dwellers and thery served as the initial inspiration for my desert fairies and back when i was originally writing her i initially considered giving her a elf owl form as a magic disguise. the costa's hummingbird was a option just cause she ourple

tadai - roadrunner

tadai is literally just the o'odham word for roadrunner i feel like i aint need to put much thought into this one

tulipán - verdin

originally i was thinking either a very disheveled little owl chick (this isnt meant to be mean to her. owls just kinda looked fucked up for the first few months of life) or a anna's hummingbird But i recently learned that the o'odham word for verdin (gi:sobï) is used as a petname for children which i thought was very cute. theyre little cactus dwelling birds and theyre very cute so it fits her

lou - remains undecided but a sandhill crane is probably my best guess for the moment since theyre really tall and lanky like him

[speedyz3]

Watched this Sandhill Crane enjoying a little shade at Farmington Bay. We had spotted some chicks a couple of weeks ago. They were nowhere to be found on Saturday. Must have been nap time.

[muntzerism-diggerism]

Sandhill crane chicks are just rambunctiuos little boys to me, they need backwards caps and skatebords and jnco jeans

[andnowanowl]

The sandhill cranes are starting to come back to raise their colts (what you call their chicks). Fingers crossed that I'll be able to get some pictures or even video of them.

[lshedra-blog]

Sand Crane with her Baby Chick by Lutfi Shedraway Via Flickr: Sand Crane are the most annoying birds I can think of... They are in neighborhoods. They screech annoyingly. They have no fear from people, and they think they own the passageway on the roads, taking their time to cross any crossing blocking traffic in the process. Still, one can't help it when one sees their cute, beautiful chick. I am fairly sure this beautiful chick will turn out as annoying as her parents, if not worth. :-) Sandhill Cranes are very large, tall birds with a long neck, long legs, and very broad wings. The bulky body tapers into a slender neck; the short tail is covered by drooping feathers that form a “bustle.” The head is small and the bill is straight and longer than the head. Sandhill Cranes breed and forage in open prairies, grasslands, and wetlands. Outside of the breeding season, they often roost in deeper water of ponds or lakes, where they are safe from predators. Best seen in its largest size!

[herpsandbirds]

Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis), mother with "colt", family Gruidae, order Gruiformes, found over much of North America

Crane chicks are sometimes referred to as “colts”.

Sandhill Cranes breed in the far north of North America, and overwinter in the southern US and northern Mexico.

There are small separate southerly breeding populations in Mississippi, Florida, and Cuba, as well.

photograph by Denny Green