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Greater Sandhill Crane
Grus canadensis tabida
45.8154, -92.6383
Field Notes
Description:
The greater sandhill crane stands about 1.2 meters (3.75 feet) tall with some variation. The bird is generally gray with a red patch of scaly skin on the forehead, dark gray legs and bill. Breeding adults often smear mud into their feathers, however, turning their normally gray plumage a rusty brown.
Habitat:
Wetlands and upland meadows and agricultural fields.
Notes:
Sandhill migration is just beginning in the upper Midwest and I'm seeing some flocking behavior of these normally territorial birds as they prepare for their southward migration. There are six different subspecies of sandhill cranes; this spotting is of the greater sandhill subspecies, which is the tallest and heaviest of all the sandhill subspecies. These particular birds were approaching a feeding area and so have their legs down and gliding in for a landing.
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