Hiwassee's Sandhill Cranes--The Stories in the Faces

"A Miocene crane fossil, thought to be about ten million years old, was found in Nebraska and is structurally identical to the modern Sandhill crane, making it the oldest known bird species still surviving!"  International Crane Foundation  

Sandhill cranes are sometimes referred to as "living fossils", but I'm not sure whether they received that label because of their pre-historic ancestors, or because of the primordial quality of their trilling calls as thousands of cranes gather to rest and feed in a wetland staging area.

Long held as symbols of longevity and prosperity in many cultures, cranes mate for life, and sandhill cranes may live as long as 20 years in the wild.  Add to these qualities, their ballerina-style grace, spreading wings like parachutes with trailing legs as they float to a landing, and you have a heart-grabbing, charismatic species. Watching the sky as sandhill cranes approach in the pale morning light is a moment guaranteed to wrap you in utter awe and silence. 

And looking through these images is taking me there again and again, and bringing into focus things I haven't noticed before.  One special enjoyment I've encountered--so many sandhill crane faces!  They're all different!  I've also noticed many variations in juvenile skin patches, as well as, what appears to be black fuzz on many of the red patches we refer to as "bald" skin.  So I consulted several of my biologists friends for answers, among them, George Happ and Christy Yuncker, authors of the Sandhill Crane Display Dictionary.  And I learned some fun new information.  

Juvenile sandhill crane, above.  The light shows the fine black bristles on the youngster's skin patch.  Notice the cinnamon feathers on the back of the head and neck. 

We experience a special treat while sandhill crane viewing in Tennessee.  While those who are privileged to have sandhill cranes during breeding season observe nesting behavior and the raising of young colts, we, who see them during migration on their staging and wintering grounds, get to see the in-between stages as the juveniles gradually change to gray plumage and develop the red skin patch that is characteristic of mature adults.  By the time they return to their breeding grounds in the spring, most of this season's young will look just like their parents, even though it will be an average of four more years before they produce off-spring.

What we typically call a bare red skin patch, is not really bald at all, but sparsely covered in fine black bristles, as shown in the adult sandhill crane, above.

You can also see that the juvenile skin patches are in various stages of maturity.  Some of them only have red skin around the eyes and brow, others have a more extensive patch but still show many gray feathers where the red skin will eventually appear.  My guess is this variation in skin patch development may be, at least in part, an indicator of the age of the juvenile, how early or late the juvenile hatched in the season.  

The juvenile above has a red-skin patch developed around his eyes and brow but the forehead and crown are still covered in gray feathers.  Below, you see two juveniles having a territorial dispute.  In the first image, you can see one adult on the left in the background focused on a crane hidden from view.  In the second, you can see the two adult sandhill cranes bill-sparring on the left, as one juvenile chases the other away.   

The two adults are vocalizing as they point their beaks at each other, a threat behavior that can escalate into more aggressive displays, including a jump-rake where the crane jumps and kicks or rakes at the other crane with his feet.  Also notice that the juvenile that remains in the foreground of the image, has a red-skin patch that is only partially developed and most noticeable around the eyes.  The rest of the patch area is still partially covered with gray feathers.

And look at this young cutie. I don't know at what point the voice of a sandhill crane changes from the peeping quality of a chick, to the more typical call of a mature adult and I couldn't find a recording for you, so we'll have to do with a description.  To hear a typical sandhill crane voice click here.  After you have heard this sound, imagine a crane near the same size with the peeping voice of a chick.  I heard one of these peeping calls as I was observing and I think it may have belonged to the youngster you see here. You can also hear these calls while cranes are flying overhead, juveniles calling to their parents in the same manner that older cranes are vocalizing.

This juvenile has lots of gray feathers covering his crown.  There is only the faintest appearance of red skin forming near the eyebrow.  And for size comparison, below you see him with an adult, likely a parent.

I believe I could spend days on end observing and learning about these birds.  

Links and Resources:

To see my entire Hiwassee Sandhill Cranes series click here.

For more information about the Sandhill Crane Display Dictionary 

Top Crane Posts on this blog:  Hooded Crane at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in TN

Crane Magic--Three Crane Species at Hiwassee.  Other posts on:  the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival, Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and sandhill cranes.

At my companion blog, Vickie's Sketchbook:  Sandhill Cranes and Art

Sandhill crane art in my website galleries

Hiwassee's Sandhill Cranes and Territorial Language

Sandhill cranes express their attitudes both vocally and behaviorally in a number of ways.  Every posture, the color and size of their red skin patch, the way they hold their head, practically every feather, offers some kind of communication to other flock members about their intent, attitude and position within the flock.    

Below you see two sandhill cranes with their skin patches showing very different attitudes.  The taller or crane with his neck stretched in back, has expanded his skin patch and flushed it with blood so that it is bright red.  This means he is excited, possibly alert to potential danger or responding to a nearby sandhill crane.  The crane in the front has the red skin patch contracted and partially covered with gray feathers. Sandhill cranes have the ability to contract their skin patch so that less of the surface is exposed to the cold.  

It's hard to imagine that sandhill cranes feeding so close together also establish territories within the feeding area.  But territorial space is as important on the feeding grounds in the winter as it is during breeding season. It means the family's survival and good reproductive health in the spring.  Feeding territories, of course, are much smaller and include only the space in which the crane family is currently foraging.    

Sandhill cranes travel together in family groups, usually two adults with one off-spring, occasionally a family of four with two off-spring.  Above you see a family of three with the mature adults on either side of a sub-adult off-spring hatched early in the season. His red facial patch is pale by comparison.  

Family groups join other families to form the flocks that we see during migration. When feeding territories are being established, sometimes the whole family gets in on the dispute, usually, male sparring with male, female with female and juvenile with juvenile. At the time I was taking the next two images below, I was still in awe of the cranes approaching, and experiencing them as cautious and alert.  But they were gathered here to forage and as soon as feeding began, territorial displays erupted.  

Following this burst of activity, I became more alert and zoomed my 300 mm lens back to better anticipate and capture these disputes!

Below, you see a sandhill crane walking with his head down showing a bright red skin patch engorged with blood.  This head position is a mild threat posture as the crane moves into an area where other cranes are feeding.  He also is displaying "plume" feathers, which are actually the raised tertiary wing feathers.  

Below, two juveniles have a dispute over their feeding territory (note the cinnamon on the back of the jumping cranes's head).  The crane on the right is in the midst of a "jump rake", one of the more aggressive behavioral displays in which the crane jumps and rakes the air with his claws.

The opposing juvenile responds with a similar jump.  Especially notice below, how the adults in the families are joining in the dispute vocally.  If the dispute does not settle quickly, they will join the juveniles in displaying to each other.

Mostly, territorial disputes include vocals and behavioral displays without physical contact.  Disputes settle quickly and the cranes go back to foraging peacefully, which is the whole purpose of their flocking together in feeding areas.  The flock serves the sandhill cranes' survival by aiding in the location of food sources and by providing many eyes on the alert for danger.  

I love observing behavior.  In the past, I have spent many hours watching herd behavior in horses, noticing how this "prey" species communicates with the most subtle of movements and gestures, creating heirarchy within the herd and a fine-tuned response to danger.  Having an opportunity to watch sandhill cranes create this same kind of order with feathers, vocals, and posturing is priceless to me, and especially gratifying knowing that Hiwassee's sandhill cranes, the Eastern Population of Greater Sandhill Cranes, was once on the brink of extinction.   

Next post:  Displays, vocals, and a late season juvenile.

Links and Resources:

To see the first post in this three-part series visit:  An Intimate Visit with Hiwassee's Sandhill Cranes

Tennessee Watchable Wildlife on Sandhill Cranes

Directions to the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge

Top Crane Posts on this blog:  Hooded Crane at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in TN

Crane Magic--Three Crane Species at Hiwassee.  Other posts on:  the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival, Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and sandhill cranes.

At my companion blog, Vickie's Sketchbook:  Sandhill Cranes and Art

Sandhill crane art in my website galleries

Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival and It's Cranes

A spectacular watchable wildlife event!   

Above you see thousands of sandhill cranes lifting off at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge as something unidentified stirs them all at once.  The rare Asian hooded crane, which was in clear view several times during the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival on Saturday, is among the flying birds.  

The Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge is one of the largest sandhill crane staging areas in the east, second only to Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in Indiana.  Sandhill cranes stop-over at the Hiwassee Wildlife refuge near Dayton, TN to feed and rest as they migrate south to Georgia and Florida for the winter.  As many as 10,000 may remain, over-wintering in Tennessee.

Watching and listening as thousands of cranes take flight is an awe-inspiring experience.  I never fail to wonder how they keep from colliding.  With a wing span of 6-7 ft and so many in flight at once, it is certain they must bump each other. But clearly this doesn't interfere with their spectacular unison flight that at first travels in one direction, then divides into spiraling layers as they catch thermals and glide in search of another safe resting place (shown below).

More than 2200 people enjoyed the sandhill crane viewing at the festival on Saturday and close to that number were present on Sunday.

The festival was sponsored by the Tennessee Ornithological Society (TOS), Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and the Barbara J Mapp Foundation.  Two of these sponsors are represented in the image below.

From left to right:  John Noel (TOS), Melinda Welton (TOS), festival co-chair; Ed Carter, TWRA Executive Director (with raised glasses viewing the hooded crane), and Kirk Miles, TWRA Region III, Wildlife Program Manager.  Cyndi Routledge (TOS) also co-chaired the festival activities, along with Dan Hicks (TWRA).  Events were coordinated among three sites, the Birchwood School, the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge observation area, and the Cherokee Removal Memorial, where educational displays, interpreters, presentations and refreshments were available for festival participants.

According to the 2006 USF&WS Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Related Recreation, more than 87 million Americans or 38% of the U.S. population, age 16 or older, hunt, fish or observe wildlife, spending $120 billion.  This amount is "roughly equal to America's total spending at all spectator sports, casinos, motion pictures, golf courses, country clubs, amusement parks, and arcades combined,"  the survey reported. Within those wildlife related activities, 71 million or 31% of Americans observed wildlife and spent $45 billion.

Add to these economic benefits, known research that links positive health to nature-related activities including improved mental health, anti-aging benefits and enhanced child development, and we have a golden treasure in our migrating sandhill crane population that is truly hard to measure.

For me personally, having attended this festival since 1999, I enjoyed reuniting with many old friends and the opportunity to share crane stories with many new ones.  A special thank you to everyone that said "hello" and introduced themselves. It was a special treat to meet people who know me through my blog posts and to hear their comments!

Links and Resources:

Top Crane Posts on this blog:  Hooded Crane at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in TN
Crane Magic--Three Crane Species at Hiwassee.  Other posts on:  the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival, Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and sandhill cranes.

At my companion blog, Vickie's Sketchbook:  Sandhill Cranes and Art
Sandhill crane art in my website galleries

Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and the Hooded Crane

While I'm typing this, the wind is howling outside my window and blowing snow, as though the winter has suddenly remembered Tennessee and is arriving in blustering style.  Despite the discomfort these fronts bring, they often create the best crane viewing conditions, bringing cranes and many other wintering birds down into Tennessee to escape the harsh weather in more northern states.

Photo credit:  David Roemer

To wet your appetite and prepare you for what you will see at the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival this weekend, January 14th and 15th, I am re-publishing last night's TN-bird post from Charles Murray.  Charles is a member of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and a resident of Birchwood, TN, and has been at the refuge daily welcoming visitors and keeping all of us posted on the most recent bird sightings there.  His latest post, Jan 12th, was especially fun to read!

Lots of things were happening at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Meigs Co. at Birchwood today.  Two whooping cranes were seen from about 8-8:30 a.m. in a winter wheat field on top of the hill across the slough from the gazebo.  A Ross's goose and 2 blue phase snow geese were noted.  Several immature bald eagles were in view, including 2 immature bald eagles which did a talon-to-talon rollover display in mid-air.  Then several of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources commissioners arrived and stayed for about an hour during which time they saw thousands of sandhill cranes and several eagles.  The hooded crane was spotted about 1:20 p.m. in the same general area that the juvenile whoopers had been in earlier in the day.  It was in and out of view until about 3 p.m. when it was chased by a sandhill crane and flew out of sight to the west.  Hopefully, the hooded crane will still be in view Saturday and Sunday for the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival centered at Birchwood Elementary School.  I went to the Cherokee Removal Memorial very late, about 5:50 p.m., where I shared a sighting of at least 4 whooping cranes in a flooded area on Hiwassee Island with a visitor from Oklahoma.  61 visitors included a person from Minnesota for the first time.  Eleven states, Canada, and the district of Columbia were represented among the visitors [today].  People from 42 states and 10 nations have now contributed to at least 2614 visits to the HWR since December 14, 2011

Directions to the refuge can be found at Tennessee Watchable Wildlife--Hiwassee  

Visitors to the weekend crane festival will need to park at Birchwood Elementary School and ride the shuttle buses to HWR.  The buses will run at least every 15 minutes.  Only handicap parking will be allowed at the HWR.  Shuttles will also go to the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park.  DRESS WARMLY!  Predictions are for temperatures in the 20's in the mornings and 40's in the afternoons.  

Charles Murray

Birchwood, TN

Photo credit:  David Roemer.  

See you at the festival!

Links and Resources:

Jan 12th news report and video of Hiwassee's cranes.  Best part is the voice of the cranes.  Read my previous post to learn about the sandhill crane and whooping crane migrations to the refuge.

American Birding Association blog post on hooded crane.

Mike Nelson's Flicker site with Hooded crane video and photo stream

At my companion blog, Vickie's Sketchbook:  Sandhill Cranes and Art
Sandhill crane art in my website galleries

On this blog:  Whooping Crane Family Series and Whooping Crane Ultralight Migration

TN Sandhill Crane Festival Celebrates Three Crane Species

Make plans to join us at the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival, January 14th and 15th at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and celebrate three crane species!  

Photo credit: Mike Nelson (see links below).  A Greater Sandhill Crane flying over the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge.

The Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge has had a rare visitor that has stirred excitement in the bird-watching world.  A Hooded crane, native to Asia, has found its way to the refuge, located near Dayton and Birchwood, TN, along with thousands of sandhill cranes and the endangered Whooping cranes that visit the refuge in the winter months to rest and feed.
Photo credit:  Mike Nelson.   Hooded crane (dark gray with white neck) with sandhill cranes at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Tennessee. 

As of January 7th, more than 2388 visitors, representing nine countries and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 40 states and the District of Columbia, have visited the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge since the Hooded crane was first reported on December 13th.   

As many as eight endangered Whooping cranes (above) have been present on the refuge at one time during this migration and wintering season, and usually one or more is visible from the viewing platform.  The presence of wintering Whooping cranes is attributable to the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership's (WCEP's) two re-introduction programs:  Operation Migration's ultralight-led migration, and the Direct Autumn Release program.  

Whooping crane juveniles must learn their migration route from their parents. Beginning in 2001, Operation Migration, a founding WCEP partner, has led groups of juvenile whooping cranes each fall on their first southerly migration journey through Tennessee to wintering grounds in Florida. These cranes then find their way back to their fledging grounds in Wisconsin in the spring, unassisted by humans, and migrate on their own the next fall. The beautiful cinnamon and white juvenile whooping cranes you see on the refuge have been captive-reared by the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin and released in the Direct Autumn Release program.  They have arrived at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge by following another more experienced Whooping crane or joining a flock of migrating sandhill cranes.  

Photo credit:  Mike Nelson.  Two juvenile Whooping cranes (cinnamon and white) and one mature whooping crane foraging and preening with sandhill cranes at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge.  

The Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge is a major staging area for migrating cranes in the east where they rest and feed along their migration journey.  Staging areas are important stop-over sights where cranes replenish nutrients, add weight, and come in contact with other cranes for potential pairing.  This is especially important for our eastern Whooping crane population which now numbers around 104 birds.  

The Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival presents a wonderful opportunity to learn about birds and see the rare occurrence of three species of cranes foraging together in a staging wetland.  There is no other place in North America where you can see three species of cranes together, and no other place in the world where three crane species will include the endangered Whooping crane.  Add to this, the treat of seeing thousands of eastern sandhill cranes that were once on the brink of extinction, and you have a rare opportunity for winter bird viewing that you won't want to miss.

Above, you see the cover of the Discover Birds Activity Book, illustrated and authored by yours truly, as a special activity for children who attend the festival. The twelve-page booklet is sponsored by the Tennessee Ornithological Society (TOS) and was coordinated and produced by TOS member and co-chair of the festival, Cyndi Routledge.  It contains fun information about wintering birds, images for children to color and a crossword puzzle to challenge young (and adult) minds.  You will find this book at the TOS exhibit table at the festival!

The festival is co-sponsored by TOS, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), and the Barbara J. Mapp Foundation, and is free to the public.  TWRA personnel will be available to answer questions about the refuge and the wildlife conservation work of the Agency. TOS members will be present at the viewing area to share their birding scopes and their knowledge of the birds you will find there, including bald eagles and many ducks and geese.

I am one of those TOS members and will also be available to answer questions on both days of the festival, so find me and say "hello".  I would love to meet you!

Links and Resources:

Mike Nelson's Flicker site with Hooded crane video and photo stream
Morgan Simmons Jan 10 article Knoxville News Sentinel:  Rare Crane Joins Hiwassee Flock

Marcia Davis:  Sandhill Crane Festival a Premier Wildlife Event

Make your plans to attend the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival

Directions to Birchwood and the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge
Sandhill Crane Festival Schedule of Events
Tennessee Ornithological Society
Tennessee Watchable Wildlife on Sandhill Cranes
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency:  TN Sandhill Crane Festival
Hooded Crane is Season's Gift by Marcia Davis
Times Free Press--Rare Hooded Crane Seen
International Crane Foundation on the Hooded Crane

At my companion blog, Vickie's Sketchbook:  Sandhill Cranes and Art

Top Crane Posts on this blog:  Hooded Crane at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in TN
Crane Magic--Three Crane Species at Hiwassee

Whooping Crane Reintroduction links:

The 2011 ultralight migration class is currently grounded in Alabama due to an FAA technical investigation.  We hope this issue will resolve soon so the juvenile Whooping cranes can continue their southern migration.  Stay up to date on the migration progress by visiting Operation Migration's field journal.
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership--Direct Autumn Release Program
International Crane Foundation
On this blog:  Whooping Crane Family Series

Linked to Bird World Wednesday at The Pine River Review
Linked to Bird Photography Weekly at Bird Freak.com