Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis
ORDER: Gruiformes
FAMILY: Gruidae

These tall, gray-bodied, crimson-capped birds breed in open wetlands, fields, and prairies across North America. They group together in great numbers, filling the air with distinctive rolling cries. Mates display to each other with exuberant dances that retain a gangly grace.

On a cloudy cold day we headed out to locate the sandhill cranes on the Pacific Flyaway migration. We saw a group of four in one of the flooded rice field. They have a very complex social body language.

Staten Island road in the Delta south of Sacramento by Consumnes River Preserve