Sandhill cranes have adopted a Canada gosling | Hacker News Reader

Sandhill cranes have adopted a Canada gosling

smithsonianmag.com

157 pointsNaOH43 comments

On Reddit, /r/MadisonWI has had photo posts of updates for them. The most recent post was last night - https://www.reddit.com/r/madisonwi/comments/1oh6f53/saw_the_...

>Such interspecies adoptions appear to have become more common in recent years

Or humans have been noticing them more. If this happened every year in a deserted area then nobody would know. Equally if some yokel saw it happening regularly in the past, they probably wouldn't have contacted anyone who would publish it to the world. They also probably were not carrying a camera in their pocket.

Paragraph 3:

"At the same time, people are paying closer attention to birds, notes Lacy, and are focusing on this pairing because it’s weird."

I agree that the phrasing lacks some self-awareness. It can well be true that pairings of this nature are only just becoming common, but the cuckoo is infamous for parasitically getting other host avians to rear it while a fledging.

There’s a mating pair of sandhill cranes that will raise chicks in my parents backyard every couple years. They’re surprisingly big birds and are really nice to see each year

I have lived in northeast Florida all my life and never saw these until we moved 60 miles to the southeast. Just that little bit of distance and they’re everywhere. Really enjoy watching and hearing them.

I rarely see them in Indiana, but hearing them fly overhead while migrating is a joy. Such a distinctive call.

I just discovered there's a map of places to find them: https://sandhillfinder.savingcranes.org/near

In the NW, from the lake down to the Kankakee River, there are a number of state park, national park, and private nature reserve properties that host huge numbers of them. Essentially, what you need is preserved wetlands and they will land. But yeah, that is not the kind of land farmers want to keep around.

I almost mentioned the Jasper-Pulaski FWA. I've visited once or twice during migration season, very impressive.

Depressing, however, just how much smaller the wetlands are now thanks to settlement. Up to 1 million acres lost.

We have a couple in our yard every year, too. They know us at this point and while they aren't exactly friendly, they don't run away when we are near or drive by, either.

We also have another pair in our wetlands who are definitely unfriendly. Just step foot within their sight and they yell at you until you leave.

We get a ton of them around us every year... we live in one of the areas where they gather before they migrate, so each spring and fall, they will all converge together for a day or two before taking off, and we'll see anywhere from a few dozen to a couple hundred together in a field.

If anyone is curious, this map shows where they are at different times of year: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/maps-rang...

There is a trail where people feed songbirds in Michigan. They have signs up that explicitly warn visitors not to feed the sandhill cranes, but people do it anyways. I don’t want to be anywhere near those beaks but rule breakers let them peck seed out of their hands

They are massive. I'd heard them forever but never actually seen one up close until early one morning this summer I saw two of them walking down the street like they owned the place. No idea what they were, but googling a description told me pretty quick.

These birds are really neat. I live in rural Michigan and they’re every where here.

- they’re the oldest enduring species of bird on our planet (been around for millions of years)

- they make a very unique call - it’s loud and prehistoric and definitely makes me think pterodactyl

- they’re often called the ribeye of the sky due to their meat (haven't tried it myself, yet)

- they fly in V patterns like geese

- they pair up and remain monogamous for their lives

I’d love to attend the migration one day and see them all together in one spot. The videos on YouTube are surreal.

My favorite wildlife joke:

You know that geese fly in V's to reduce air resistance, right? Ever notice that one side of the V is often longer than the other? You know why?

(At this point, you will get a pause, followed by a hesitant but very carefully worded explanation about northern hemisphere rotation, rising air, sun glints, or what-have-you.)

Nope. It's because geese can't count.

...And this is how I learn that the line "Steele Dakota's sandhill crane" from mewithoutYou's Nine Stories is talking about a bird species and not a literal mechanical crane. Apparently they have the largest sculpture of a sandhill crane in the world at 40ft (which makes more sense in the context of the song than a mechnical one!) https://www.ndtourism.com/steele/attractions-entertainment/f...

It's Brightbill!

Since the article is from June, does anyone know what happened to the gosling?

Still here

https://www.reddit.com/r/madisonwi/comments/1oh6f53/saw_the_...

"Somebody found a copy of the shell script I wrote for HPUX and is using it on Windows as if that's normal"

These cranes will regret inviting a Canadian Cobra Chicken into their family. They are evil and will attack everything you love. (I hate geece)

How dare you insult the Waterloo Navy like that! Unpatriotic scum!

They're remarkably standoffish outside of the city. They'll scurry as soon as you come close, unless they're nesting, at which point they stand forlorn a marked distance away from their nest waiting for you to leave.

Oddly enough, within town, they're remarkably tame. Maybe with enough humans around, they learn that we're not a threat, and it's costly to evade a non threat. Likewise the turkeys. My daily bike commute goes past a public golf course, and there's usually a pair of cranes there, sometimes with little ones. They ignore me.

I suspect that depends on the nesting status. Long ago I worked in an office building where a mated pair would frequently raise their chicks outside the front door, and before the eggs hatched they would aggressively harass anyone walking to the building.

If you've got a problem with Canada Gooses, you've got a problem with me. And I suggest you let that one marinate.

I always marinate my Canada Gooses before cooking

I mean, as far as I'm concerned they're entitled to be. I'd be pretty pissed off too if I was forced to nest in a ditch between the highway and the Walmart parking lot.

I've heard this a lot about geese and swans. It doesn't match my experience at all. These birds won't just randomly attack you, but they will stand their ground and defend themselves and their families. I've come to believe the people who think these birds are aggressive are either the bully kids who chase ducks and pigeons but were shocked when a goose refused to be bullied, or people with zero empathy or respect and can't understand not to get in another animal's face or at least understand they don't want you to come any closer.

there was a Game about a psychopath goose destroying lives that didnt help

Untitled Goose Game!

I think you mean the Untitled Goose Game? That's a fun short indie game where you are in control of the goose. If someone associates those actions with real life geese, there's some big disconnect about how the world works.

It's also unreasonable to describe the actions of the goose in the game as "destroying lives". They range from friendly interactions to harmless pranks to very mild revenge on people who are mean to the player character.

My kids love that game! But it's not destroying lives, more like committing a series of naughty pranks (like, you can sneak into a TV studio and interrupt a broadcast by honking and flapping about).

I live near a lake with lots of Swans. There is always one solitary one who is just into threatening everybody. Even outside breeding season and with no kids around. But I suspect he wasn't born this way, but some kids may have hit him with rocks or similar.

During nesting season, the entire back half of my backyard is effectively inaccessible because the Canada geese will attack you if you come within hundreds of feet of their nest. They are also utterly fearless and would also attack cars that come too far down the driveway (while still being nowhere near the nest.)

Their behavior definitely varies situationally, I have been to parks where there were hundreds of them and the only problem from them was the enormous amount of feces.

The problem isn't that they defend themselves. The problem is that they frequently decide to nest within 3 feet of the bicycle/running trail regardless of how much green space is in the park.

Here is another Canadian Gosling that has also found itself south of the border

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Gosling

I thought this was about Sand Hill Road funded startups welcoming University of Waterloo interns. Oh well.

I might also note that James Gosling is Canadian.

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