Adult Sandhill Crane
One parent with its chick
Sandhill Cranes mate for life.
They choose their partners based on dancing displays.
Junior
Although each usually female lays two eggs, only one nestling typically survives to fledge.
These dents in the side of an SUV were hammered by the bill of one of the adult cranes. It attacked its reflection thinking it was a rival.
The real tragedy and true danger occurs because these birds have been fed by people and have lost their fear of humans. Having gotten used to people, when folks don’t feed them they don’t like it and can become testy. Also, having seen the power of that bill as it dented the door of an SUV, if the crane saw it’s reflection in sunglasses or a human cornea, that bill wouldn’t have any trouble penetrating through the eye into the brain. Bad for people and bad for the bird.
Don’t feed wildlife!!!
Cranes attack aerial predators by leaping into the air and kicking their feet forward.
Preening those all-important feathers.
Mated pairs and their juvenile offspring stay together all through the winter, until the 9-10 month old juveniles finally separate from their parents the following spring.
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