How difficult is on-the-fly ID between a Sandhill and a Whooping Crane?
Printable View
How difficult is on-the-fly ID between a Sandhill and a Whooping Crane?
Whooping Cranes are white bodied vs brownish-grey on Sandhills, a very noticeable difference.
Thanks. I looked it up on the Audubon website. The only difficulty may be with juvenile Whoops being almost identical in color to adukt Sandhills until their color phase changes to white as they mature. I also note that Whoops have red on their faces around the beak and Sandhills have a red patch on their head. Like anything waterfowl related,proper identification is very important.Quote:
Originally Posted by longpointer
Hello Trimmer,
It is my understanding (might be wrong) that the Whooping Crane is essentially a "western" bird that migrates down the Central Flyway ... do not think that you would encounter a Whooping Crane in this province.
Your point about a young Whooping Crane is a good point however it would be very unlikely that you would encounter a young Whooping Crane flying by itself over your decoys. Please note that nothing is guaranteed.
Jerome
Thanks for this,Jerome. I find it very interesting. I've tasted almost every species of North American game meat at least once over my lifetime,but,I've never had Crane "steaks".Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddy Boy
Alberta and Sask are the only two provinces where you could see Whoopers mixed in with Sandhills. When they leave Sask they pass into North Dakota, on their way to their wintering grounds in Texas. It would be amazing to get to see one !
True but in the last few years they have successfully re-introduced breeding birds into Wisconsin and their range is expanding. There is now a population of whoopers that breed and summer in Wisconsin and then fly south from there. Wisconsin is not too far west of here (only one state between them and us) so who knows what will happen in another generation or two.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fenelon
Hello Fenelon & Species 8472,
Fenelon ... thank you for confirming that.
Species 8472 ... remembered hearing something about that.
Jerome
I am not an avid waterfowler, but I will gladly make a trip - within reasonable distance - to get one of these!
When visiting Manitoulin Island in August (few years ago) we saw lots of Sandhill Cranes and I heard that some locals were shooting them. :(
Then, we saw a few pairs of them east of Chapleau last September when we were scouting for moose.
They don't appear to me as "easy shooting" birds, so I suppose you need to set up and wait for them, just like other waterfowl.