Blackbirds and Cranes

By far our favorite sign of spring is the return of birds who we have not seen for our long Wisconsin winters. The first trill of red-winged blackbirds and fluting calls of migrating sandhill cranes brings much excitement and pointing from my daughters.

Male red-winged blackbirds are the easiest to see, with their glossy black feathers and bright red epaulets (shoulder coloring - it’s a military term!) Their “brush-your-teeeeeth” call is an attempt to set up their nesting territory and attract females, who arrive a few weeks after the males.

Sandhill cranes are not a bird that I remember seeing as a Wisconsin farm kid. But their numbers have grown to over 100,000 in the past 25 years, so they have become a familiar sight in the sky, in fields and in marshes. Watching a large flock of them flying overhead and hearing them talk to each other as they fly is always a moment of awe for us.

Two books this week to pair with these two incredible spring bird species. Check out “Beautiful Blackbird” by Ashley Bryan and “Luck: The Story of a Sandhill Crane” by (one of my favorite natural world authors) Jean Craighead George. The first is a celebration of all of our colors and how we can share our gifts with others. The second follows the migration travels of a young sandhill crane and his interactions with people.