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Florida sandhill cranes

Grus canadensis pratensis

Description:

Adults are gray overall; during breeding, their plumage is usually much worn and stained, particularly in the migratory populations, and looks nearly ochre. The average weight of the larger males is 4.57 kg (10.1 lb), while the average weight of females is 4.02 kg (8.9 lb), with a range of 2.7 to 6.7 kg (6.0 to 14.8 lb) across the subspecies. Sandhill cranes have red foreheads, white cheeks and long dark pointed bills. In flight, their long dark legs trail behind, and their long necks keep straight. Immature birds have reddish brown upperparts and gray underparts. The sexes look alike. Sizes vary among the different subspecies; the average height of these birds is around 80 to 122 cm (2 ft 7 in to 4 ft 0 in). Their wing chords are typically 41.8–60 cm (16.5–23.6 in), tails are 10–26.4 cm (3.9–10.4 in), the exposed culmens are 6.9–16 cm (2.7–6.3 in) long and the tarsi measure 15.5–26.6 cm (6.1–10.5 in). (information from Wikipedia)

Habitat:

Ditch along a residential road

Notes:

These birds surprised the heck out of me as I walked out of my brother's housing addition and almost ran right into them. They were not shy and I had all the time in the world to shoot these images.

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Aaron_G
Spotted by
Aaron_G

Melbourne, Florida, USA

Spotted on Feb 27, 2015
Submitted on May 2, 2015

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