This is a sandhill crane.
There are two of them hanging out around Burnaby Lake.
They seem to get along with the geese, which is weird because the geese don’t get along with anybody.
They are taller than the geese but not as fat.
They are very skinny when they stand up straight.
That’s probably because they’re really into yoga.
They like tree pose.
And Warrior III
And forward folds.
Their thighs are too short and their ankles are too long so dancer’s pose looks a bit different. But you can tell that’s what it is because the foot is by the head.
I’d never heard of the nose-to-armpit twist before.
But they can do it on one leg.
As well as the nose-to-butt.
Huh, I didn’t know that cranes would stand on one leg. I thought that was unique to flamingos.
Pretty much all birds do that when resting, but the long legged ones do it more and it’s a lot more obvious. Usually the leg goes all the way up into the position it would be in for flight, so you can’t see it at all. It’s a heat loss thing because the legs aren’t insulated. Little birds don’t rest out in the open so you won’t catch them doing that much, but if you watch pigeons and seagulls closely, especially when it’s cold, you’ll see it. Some big birds like geese and ostriches usually just drop their bellies to the ground instead.