ML267590321

Media notes

The pair was observed without disturbance for half an hour from a seldom-traveled road using the vehicle as a blind. The birds were seen from a distance, walking slowly, parallel to the road and about 100m from it while foraging in a harvested field. I was able to drive down the road unseen while they were behind a ridge and wait for them to appear. Audio recording began when they emerged from behind the ridge. The first three vocalizations (single calls) are widely separated at 0:03, 0:39 and 2:22. A more distant pair of Whooping Cranes is heard at 3:11 to 3:24 and elicits a response from both birds of the primary pair at 3:30. From 3:30 to 7:58 both birds of the primary pair vocalize more frequently with both individual and unison calls, ending with complex unison calls. Recording continued for two minutes after the vocalization at 7:58, but nothing further was heard. The pair continued to forage for a further 20 minutes and then flew off.