Greater Sandhill Cranes—Are We Dancing?

I’m leaving the backyard for a bit to muse about sandhill cranes and their enchanting behavior, a species that captured my heart about ten years ago. But I'm not alone. People have watched them for centuries and used their behavior to symbolize good health, long life, peace and happiness.
And this reverence is well-earned. Like many animal and bird species, cranes mate for life, are territorial and protective of their families, and show emotion, including grief when a mate is lost. Sandhill cranes migrate in large flocks of family groups. You hear them even before you see them, that wonderful melodious call that fills the air and causes you to look up with wonder. And then you hear the tiny "peeps". The juveniles, though nearly the size of their parents, still have their chick voices until their vocal chords mature sometime near the end of their first year.
Animal behavior has always been one of my loves, second only to people behavior. So it was with great pleasure that I attended an eight-hour crane behavior workshop at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico several years ago.Sandhill cranes are peace-loving birds but it is their wonderful array of postural communication that allows them to co-exist in harmony while in wintering flocks of thousands. Though they do not require a large territory while staging, they still have territorial boundaries within the feeding area and they protect their feeding space with determination.
The crane above is not dancing. Though elegant and full of grace, he is displaying aggression. Cranes use a variety of postures and vocalizations to let intruders know they aren’t welcome.

Among the postures are the head down position below, showing the bald red patch which can be engorged with blood to intensify color and display aggression or excitement.Above you see a crane family with the male in front with head down, the juvenile in the middle and the female in the back. You will see some mud stains on the adults from painting themselves, a ritual that is of uncertain purpose but believed to be a part of courtship and an assist to camouflage while nesting.
Notice that the juvenile below still has rust feathers on his head and his wings and he has not yet developed the adult white facial marking. The rust feathers on the juvenile are more uniform in appearance than the painted mud stains on adult breeding birds.

The feather ruffling you see below serves as a mild threat called a ruffle threat--a general expression, "you better not mess with me".

And the crane below, after issuing some warning calls, is getting into some serious displays of attitude and intent to defend his feeding territory.
These behaviors are usually sufficient to cause the intruder to back off. But when retreat does not occur the dispute intensifies and dust flies.

Cranes avoid physical disputes whenever possible using calls and posturing. When disagreements escalate to the point of contact, they are settled rapidly and peace is restored. Maybe the human species could learn a few pointers from cranes.