Help! I took these pics at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Jan. 2006 and don't remember which ones they were.
Even though they were photographed in FL, doesn't mean they are the Florida Sandhill Crane. They have other birds there that aren't 'FL birds'.
Would like to know so that I can add to the Bird Files.
Thanks!
This message was edited Dec 29, 2008 1:01 AM
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Not possible to tell without an accurate series of measurements!
Its presence in a heavily human-altered habitat shows strong habituation to humans, which suggests it may well be a local breeding bird, but it isn't proof of it.
Resin
Thanks Resin!
I didn't realize there was 2 kinds of Sandhill Crane until I started searching the Bird Files to add pics. Then, I didn't know what to do.
There were signs at each 'pen' of the birds (some had one type of bird to a pen and other pens had more than one type of bird) and I wished now that we had taken pics of the signs.
Maybe a member from FL might know for sure.
The bird in your photo's look identical to Florida Sandhill Cranes I've seen wandering at a friends home on the waterway here in East Central Florida. I took some pictures last summer but can't find them! Arrrgh!
I googled and found these images of the Florida Sandhill Crane: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=images+of+florida+sandhill+crane&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
and images of Midwest Sandhill Crane: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=images+of+midwest+sandhill+cranes&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
My Florida Bird book:
Florida's Birds, A Field Guide and Reference by David S. Maehr and Herbert W. Kale II
gives this information about the Florida Sandhill Crane:
Family: Gruidae
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
Length 40 in (102 cm) Weight 7.4 lb (3.36 kg) Status T
Description: Large gray or brown body, red crown and lores (adults only)
Habitat: Dry prairies; wet prairies and marshes; agricultural environments
Range: Statewide
The information says the Florida Sandhill Cranes are non migratory, inhabiting scattered marshes and wet prairies throughout the state and that migrant cranes from the midwest make Florida their home from late fall through winter. Adults are characterized by black legs, gray plumage (sometimes stained reddish brown), whitish cheeks, and a red crown. (It's confusing because I don't know if that last sentence is describing the Florida version or the one from the Midwest.) It sounds like the description of the Florida crane.
plantladylin,
You're right! It does look like a Florida Sandhill Crane! I can now add the pics to the Bird Files.
Thanks so much for your help and info! :-)
Marilyn
No difference in plumage between the two subspecies, just that the resident Florida subspecies is on average a little larger than the migratory ones from further north. So the only way to tell them apart is by measuring them.
Resin
Thanks Resin for the info! :-)
