Whooping Cranes (I think)

[Cadfael]

My husband found these guys on the drive between ICB and C road east @ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory... November 14th.

There have been breeding pairs of Sandhills, but not Whooping Cranes (that he's heard of - -and he's been there >40 years)

[shenmue]

1. Pretty!

[csziggy]

2. I think whooping cranes are whiter than those birds

Though I've never seen a whooping crane in person, I have seen a lot of sandhills. The sandhill cranes are now resident year round in parts of Central Florida. The ones I am used to seeing are about the same color as the birds in your picture. Plus, looking at the pictures on the Cornell bird site, the markings on the head for the whoopers are different:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whooping_Crane/id
Scroll down for the photos and a comparison of a sandhill crane.

Edited to add - nice picture no matter what kind of birds those are!

[Cadfael]

3. Here's one of the Sandhill family groups

That were in residence at the lab this summer; this is a pair of older chicks born this summer - (as an added bonus there's the shadow of my husband taking the picture during his bike ride in to work that morning)



Here's an adult pair:

[csziggy]

4. Here are a pair of Whooping Cranes

Notice the markings on the head - a lot different than the red cap on the sandhill cranes. And they are white without any brown or gray color.

Sandhill cranes can range in color from the very brown - as in the two pictures from this summer you posted - to a pale gray, as in the picture in the OP.

Compare the two at:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/id
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whooping_Crane/id