IBRC 21-B-11

IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

SPECIES: Hooded Crane
HOW MANY: 1

REPORTER: Poo Wright-Pulliam PO Box 581 Sun Valley, ID 83353 208-788-3903
REPORTER EMAIL: pwpart@q.com
OTHER OBSERVERS: Jean Seymour (208-788-1185)and Judy Foster at the original sighting. Shortly after Kathleen Cameron, Gary Stitzinger, Zeke Watkins, Larry Barnes, Dave Spaulding, Brian and Debbie Sturges, Robin Garwood, Cliff and Lisa Weiss, Jay Carlisle, Heidi Ware and more.

DATE REPORT PREPARED: 5/2/2011
DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED: 4/25/2010

LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION: Hwy 20 just east of the town of Carey and directly across from the entrance to Carey Lake, in Blaine County, ID
HABITAT: farm land across from a WMA
CONDITIONS: We observed the bird for probably a half hour viewed with a Premier 15x45 spotting scope, Brunton Epoch 8.5x45 and Nikon 8x42 binoculars. Weather was light clouds, temps in the 30's. The bird was with a shcr in the second pasture (2 football fields?)

DID YOU TAKE NOTES?: Yes, during the observation
DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?: Yes, during the observation
WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?: I took a photo through the scope with my iphone and then emailed it to Larry Barnes and Zeke Watkins. Jean got on the phone with Jay Carlisle and he went on the world wide web (amazing), as he found it, Zeke also called back with the same I.D. No books had the bird.

DESCRIPTION: family gruidae smaller than the shcr it was with. head and neck white except for a black forehead; bill was smaller than shcr's,looked gray but could have been mud; eye was red. The body was charcoal gray (darker below than above) with large plumed tail, legs gray, . All body features where just like shcr other than size. None of the photos show a leg band and no one reported any type of leg, wing or neck I.D.
BEHAVIOR: hocr had same feeding method as shcr, no vocalization. It was with only one other crane (although a few were nearby)

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU? Positive ID was made when Jay Carlisle and Zeke Watkins confirmed via phone. The smaller size, white head and neck and charcoal body clinched the I.D.
HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY? Similar species: sandhill crane, whooping crane, common crane. None of these species have an all white head and neck with black forehead nor are they charcoal gray.

EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES): Have seen many sandhill cranes here in Blaine County, they nest here. Was fortunate enough to see the whooping cranes in Texas. Have never seen the hooded crane or common crane.
GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE: I started birding in 1995, recieved a certificate of completion of the Cornell Lab's Seminars in Bird Biology in 1998. I do bird counts monthly for Idaho F&G at Silver Creek Preserve (going on 8 years) and teach bird I.D. and field notes classes for Elderhostel and other entities.

WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?: Photo

These photos taken by Kathleen Cameron on 25 April 2010.  They were cropped and resized by the webmaster.  To view original file click the image.

Photo below by Poo Wright-Pulliam (click to see original0

Below is a photo of field notes taken by Poo Wright-Pulliam