Whooping Cranes - In Flight

If you ever get the privilege of seeing a whooping crane in flight, you can imagine the wonderment the early explorers of flight must have experienced. These birds are large enough to see so much feather detail in flight. You can't help but be in awe of nature's design to make flight possible. These birds finesse the air as opposed to humans simply overpowering gravity.

After leaving the boat, we took a short rest and then spent the afternoon in a private blind that provided a beautiful backdrop with the afternoon sun at our backs. The area had a deer corn feeder and whoopers and other wildlife could be expected.

Not long after arriving, we heard the distant call of whooping cranes and saw these two flying to the field. We had barely settled and they likely saw movement and decided to pass over us in this initial fly-by. Though they didn't land in the field, they did give us some nice in-flight shots.

I am posting three of the photos as they approached. I hope you appreciate the wing and feather positions as much as I do. The very long feathers at the wing tips are crucial to their ability to travel and soar long distances. These 5 feathers flex a large amount and increase the aerodynamic performance of the bird. These feathers are not just responding to the forces of the air, rather their position and angle (rotation) are controlled by the bird.

These upturned wing tips and spacing between feathers improve the flow of air over the wings by breaking up vortices. Most modern airline jets include vertical winglets on their wing tips inspired by studying the efficiencies of soaring birds.

Stay in touch!

Doug White