Our dog Cole has already chased these two cranes from our yard twice this Spring, but they keep returning to stroll across the property like a couple of supermodels. They also don't mind so much being photographed, but I'm still careful to keep my distance and use the zoom. I think this one might have been snickering a little at me:
Playing polite paparazzi to the cranes has also helped me notice more things about them. At first glance they look identical, but they have very different personalities. One is cautious, easily-spooked and almost tiptoes through the grass; the other is aggressive, loud and always seems to be looking for trouble -- but he's also very protective of his partner (I'm guessing he's the male):
Seeing how they interact with each other is teaching a lot about partners -- and not just the romantic variety. They never eat or preen at the same time; one always stands guard out while the other digs for bugs or neatens the feathers. When they fly off, however, they match each other's moves and stay within two feet of each other in the air. They also squabble now and then, but never when they can see me watching them (which I suppose is like an old married couple.)
I've read up on sandhill cranes and discovered some surprising facts about them, such as they eat just about anything, from mice to snakes to bugs, but it's illegal in my state for humans to feed them (not that I ever would; I just didn't know it was against the law.) They live for as long as twenty years, and I've known this pair for ten, so they're probably middle-aged. These cranes are also so territorial they will attack their own reflections, which is why they sometimes damage cars and windows. Watching them together has taught me a lot that isn't in the books, such as I have never once seen them apart, and yet they still call to each other across the yard. I can't tell if they're having a conversation, doing the mating thing or simply feel nervous, but no matter what they do I get the sense that they're always focused on each other -- true partners in every sense, caught up in their own story.
I just wish I could do this when I get an itch on my back.
Lynn,
ReplyDeleteYour cranes are beautiful! We also have a pair of mating sandhill cranes on the property I am renting. My husband and I have lived on 35 acres for the past 2 years and watched the same pair of cranes the entire time. Sometimes they will be gone for a few weeks, but I always know when they return because I can hear their very distinctive voices. I did not know what kind of crane they were when we first moved in, but the Fla. Dept. of Ag. has a great website and also had audio clips of what the different birds sounded like. Sandhill cranes are quite distinctive when talking!
Tami
Jacksonville
Tami, my guy calls them "the teradactyls" for that clattering sound they make when they call.
DeleteThe cranes are so elegant. Between the cranes and the prolific doves I think you may be the Bird Whisperer.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine why. I've never been much of a bird person until we moved here. Now I'm turning into the Bird Lady of the Lake or something.
DeleteI wonder if they talk to the doves?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised. Mama dove is sitting on next #4; she's probably giving them tips on how to be nymphomaniacs.
DeleteLove the photos. Cranes are such elegant and yet slightly awkward-looking birds.
ReplyDeleteI love watching them walk across the yard. The way their legs move is hilarious.
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