Sandhill Cranes
Here in the Southern Rockies, we are witnessing the same die-off of our local birds that is occurring all over the world. The big birds are gone, Red-tailed Hawks, Pileated Woodpeckers that were an almost daily sight; Evening Grosbeak with its ravishing golden-yellow is rare now, the American Goldfinch and Lesser Goldfinch—gone. Western Bluebirds and Mountain Bluebirds are a sometimes thing and Spotted Towees are few. The Dark-Eyed Junco makes a frequent appearance but the Stellar’s Jay is gone although I still see the less dramatic Scrub Jay. And the Ravens, those survivors, still float on the wind.
But the little birds that remain have become more precious, the Black Capped Chickadees, House Finches and Pine Siskins and the always abundant sparrows. I’m reminded of a line in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 as I watch these little birds hanging off my feeders or dipping themselves in the warm water of my bird bath: “To love that well which thou must leave ere long.”
Feeding the birds that remain has become my passion: black Sunflower seeds strewn on the ground at South Pass Ranch for the flocks of Wild Turkeys, a mixture of corn and sunflower for the birds that remain around my studio here. We do what we can to sustain the natural world we depend on and love, and which we no longer take for granted.
And down south, at the Bosque del Apache, the Sandhill Cranes, although fewer in number, launch themselves from the ponds as the sun rises, clattering, and return to settle in fleets of amazing whiteness on the ponds at sunset.
All these birds feed us even more abundantly than we feed them.
The excerpt below from Wikipedia suggests that sandhill cranes are targets for many predators, including humans:
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As a conspicuous ground-dwelling species, sandhill cranes are at risk from a few predators. Corvids, such as ravens and crows, gulls, jaegers, raptors and mammals such as foxes, coyotes and racoons feed on young cranes and eggs.[30] In Oregon and California, the most serious predators of chicks are reportedly coyotes, ravens, raccoons, American mink, and great horned owls, roughly in descending order.[31][32] Cranes of all ages can be hunted by both North American species of eagles, bobcats, and possibly American alligators.[33][34][35] Additionally, there is a report that even a much smaller peregrine falcon has successfully killed a 3.1 kg (6.8 lb) adult sandhill crane in a stoop.[30][36] In New Mexico, humans hunt them with a permit granted in a lottery draw during late fall. There are a total of 17 states that allow hunting of Sandhill Cranes. //
I wonder if “stoop” in the above is a typo for “swoop”—I have been banned from editing Wikipedia.
A word or two about the American Goldfinch. No, American goldfinches are not gone, maybe where you are, but their population is considered stable and flocks of them visit my farm.