Are these cranes?

Sorry there isn't a better photo; saw these this afternoon and wondered if they were cranes. I know we have cranes in the springtime, but not sure about this time of year..
kiska
alaska

Still blurry, but maybe helpful to see how large they are.
kiska

I think they are Emus Kiska..


Deb

Deb: wow - I'd never even thought of Emus...have never seen them here nor have known of anyone here in Palmer with them..no wonder they looked bigger than any crane I've seen...thanks, bet you're right..
kiska

Your welcome!
They have a few Emu ranches here in this area so I am used to seeing them.. Very majestic birds!

Deb

Deb; I can hardly wait to show my grandkids these birds. They are not in a fenced in area, but a large hay field, I wonder if they are going to wander off. And if they do, where would they go, this is going to need some looking into...thanks for the info..Here is the field they are in.
kiska

They're going to love that Keiska! Flightless birds are facinating, there are still some out in the wild like Deers etc. They have very powerful legs and can run very very fast, (about 30-40mph. I think).
Looks like they have plenty to eat out there.
Let me know what the GKs think about those Emus. lol


Deb

They look like young Sandhill Cranes to me - the adults are grey, but the immatures are brownish.

Emus are huge (more than man-high), with very stout legs, and longer, relatively thinner necks, and a shorter, stubbier bill. I doubt they'd be able to farm them in Alaska, too cold in the winter (they come from the Australian desert). Also if they were being farmed, there wouldn't be just two in a huge field - not economical!

Emu at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu

Resin

(edit: link added)


This message was edited Nov 7, 2006 2:12 PM

Looks like some sort of Sandhill Crane to me also. We have one species here in Florida . I think I read something once about an Artic Sandhill Crane .... maybe those you saw are late migrating or something.

Lin

Ok duh me! Resin I'm very glad you and plantlady showed up....I think y'all are correct! We sure want the Kiska's GKs to have the correct information when she goes back. Whew!
Kiska get some close-ups when you go back if you can. :o).

Cranes are really awesome birds, so huge as flying birds go, and a lot more graceful than Emus, lol.
Thanks!!

Deb

Thanks for all the info, everyone..Once it gets lighter out, I'll go back down and see if they are still there and get a closer pic.. I let my daughter know to take her 2 boys down there, too. Probably more likely they are some kind of crane that forgot to leave before winter. That leaves 7 other grandchildren to gather up...
It's Minus 4 at 8:30 am., so I won't get too far from the warmth of the car. Then, too, it's awfully slick out and that is also a deterrent for me...getting "wimpy" about winter :).
kiska

They were still there, but had not come any closer to the road, so I didn't bother to take a photo. They are the largest cranes I've seen, and again, so late in leaving. I'm beginning to think they are staying the winter.
kiska
How about this Eagle nest a few miles from my home...

Might be worth getting some local birders out with 'scopes to see them - there is a chance (very small) that they could be vagrant Common Cranes from Asia. Common Crane is somewhat larger than Sandhill Crane.

Try phoning these people:
Alaska Bird Observatory, Inc.
418 Wedgewood Drive
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
(907) 451-7159
http://www.alaskabird.org/

Unlikely, but worth a check. If it is true, there'll be a lot of birders will want to see them, though.

Resin

That is a great idea, thanks, Resin.
kiska

Resin: after speaking with the Alaska Bird Observatory; the spokesman says they are most likely a Sandhill Crane. He told me that they migrate as a family and if one of them is injured or unable to make the migration, they will remain with that one till finally they must leave; or till the injured one dies. Because they are here so late in the migration, he feels that something is wrong with one of the birds..
Thanks for the information; I now have a new "bookmark" location.
kiska
alaska

In that case, their disappearing soon would be good news, so let's hope they do.

Resin

Yes; I hope they are gone; I didn't get to town today, (have to go past where they are), so will see tomorrow if they are there.
kiska

kiska, I've read that the state of Alaska actually has a hunting season for Sandhill Cranes including this time of the year. Page 2 of the following link provides limits and season information.

http://www.wildlifenews.alaska.gov/regulations/pdfs/wfl-1.pdf

I assume that you live close to the Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge ???

This message was edited Nov 8, 2006 9:32 PM

linthicum: I'd never heard of anyone hunting the Sandhill Cranes, so learning this was quite a surprise.
The "Flats" are just over 10 miles from my home near Palmer. Always something to see in that area, from eagles to moose and blowing snow..Have you lived here before?
kiska

kiska, no, I've never been to Alaska. I just came across the Palmer Hay Flats when I was doing some "surfing" about Sandhill Cranes and also saw that you live in Palmer, AK.

I do live very close to the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, MD which functions as a major player in the rearing and training of the endangered Whooping Crane. They do have some Sandhill Cranes on site also but the facility is closed to the general public. Have you ever watched any videos of their training techniques using an ultralight aircraft to train the Whooping and Sandhill Cranes ?

There are Greater Sandhill Cranes and Lesser Sandhill Cranes. I think they hunt the Lesser Sandhill Crane in Alaska.

Do you have a link to any of the training videos in which they used an ultralight to train Whooping and Sandhill Cranes? Were they were trying to teach the cranes new migration patterns by getting them to follow an ultralight? I'm wondering if the work being done at your Patuxent Research Refuge might not be where they got the idea for the movie "Fly Away Home" where the child star Amy helps orphaned geese migrate and hook up with wild geese. Great movie for kids... and adults and I bet the videos from your Research Refuge are pretty darn good too.

linthicum:What an unusual occupation, training birds to do what? Would also like to see more about that. There must be much more to this than meets the eye. My son said he'd known about being able to hunt the Sandhill Cranes-(he never told me) :)
kiska

National Geographic has a few short videos at their web site. Also attached is a link to Patuxent Research Refuge videos.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061023-crane-video.html
http://whoopers.usgs.gov/videos2.HTM

Thanks, I'll take a look.
kiska

Same markings as sandhill cranes here. Darker color. Most arrived here about 2 weeks ago.

Awesome videos from National Geographic. The conditioning that helped make the migration successful was awe inspiring. Thank you for posting that link, it left me with goosebumps.

It was something I'll show my grandkids, too...thanks so much.
kiska

Sorry guys they don't look like emus to me though they do resemble juvenile ones. I have been looking for some photos we took out west of some groups of emus but alas I cannot find them. Emus bodies definitely look more like Ostriches, and sit parallel to the ground not upright like your birds there.

Your right Jay! My eyes went flippo on me..at a glance they looked like Emus, lol

They are definatly Cranes like Kiska thought in the first place:o) What magnificent birds! What a cool place to live too!

~linth I enjoyed that NG link you posted! It also had a clip from one of my favorite movies Winged Migration.

o/

thanks for replying - they are just the largest I've seen and that really threw me off. The links have been quite interesting and thanks for that. Yesterday I noticed that there is a young one with them..it's the first time I've seen it standing...wonder if it's what's holding them back from migrating?
kiska

I've got a few photos of Emus. When I get home I'll try to search and see what I can post. The juveniles do "somewhat" resemble the photos originally posted... from a distance.

We look forward to seeing your pictures..
kiska

We visited DeYoung's Zoo in Wallace Michigan when we were passing through either last summer or the summer before. They have a petting zoo that has all sorts of critters for the kids and one pen had juvenile Emus. I can't find any of the Emu photos I took but I found a link to their site. It's such a small zoo I was surprised to find they had a website. Although photos of their petting zoo are currently unavailable, if you click on the link to their volunteers and scroll down and look at an image titled "Matzo and Peeper", you will see why the Emus do sort of look similar from a distance. It's those nice long legs they've got-
http://deyoungzoo.com/wolves.htm

I know I have a better photo of a whole bunch of their baby emus all up standing close by the chain link fencing to their enclosure. They have some sort of a bin that you can buy feed from to feed them and our boys were feeding them and they were all gathered around looking for tidbits. The babies looked cuter than the dickens but I am having problems finding what folder I saved it in. Sorry about that. I did find the baby fox photo I took at their zoo that I was looking for a few months ago so the emus will surface sooner or later.

We were playing golf in FL a few years ago and a pair of Sandhill Cranes landed and started their courting dance right on the fairway in front of us. They are huge! And let me tell you, the mating dance is hilarius, we were laughing about it for days. The male runs around and then leaps into the air about 3 ft and thrusts his feet out and squawks this raucous scream while the female just stands there and bobs her head around and pretends to be disinterested. They ignored us completely although we did keep our distance as they are very large birds. And didn't look like they wanted to be bothered with intruders at that important moment. That's a cool sighting. I didn't know they summered that far north.

It's called: 'Operation Migration' .. > http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html * Give the page a bit of time, to load

More 'shtuff' here > http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/

- Magpye

This message was edited Nov 11, 2006 11:15 PM

Hey Andrea,
A raucaus male and a bobbing female? Sure you weren't chaperoning a teen dance over at the school for your kids?

I found this image on the Internet, it isn't mine. Whoever took this photo should get an award for something. What that something is I don't know but here's lookin at you babe!

Very interesting zoo site - thanks; I can understand how photos disappear deep inside the computer...hope to see them "whenever" you find them.
That's a great "picture"you related, alyrics; quite descriptive.
kiska
Quite a "charming" face there...

This message was edited Nov 11, 2006 9:40 PM

Lauren how did you get that photo of me?

Me thinks you be a little bit slap happy!

Here's the photo of the baby that I was supposed to post months ago. I've long forgotten which thread I was supposed to post it in but here's hoping I can someday match up this photo with the thread where it was supposed to be shared.