Private Lives of Sandhill Cranes October 20, 2011

Every winter, these large, long-legged birds occupy the fields and marshes south of Sacramento, providing great opportunities for nature enthusiasts to view them. But what do you watch for? Join crane biologist Paul Tebbel as he tells you all about these fascinating birds and describes how to identify and appreciate the verbal and body signals cranes send to one another. You'll learn to recognize juveniles, tell subspecies apart, and distinguish between dancing and aggression. The presentation features a video of cranes showing the behaviors up close, with Paul acting as narrator.

Paul Tebbel, executive director of the Effie Yeaw Nature Center on the Lower American River in Sacramento, did his first research on Sandhill Cranes in 1976 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. From 1995 to 2006, he was the manager of National Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River in southern Nebraska. Nearly 750,000 cranes use the Platte every spring, and Rowe Sanctuary often contains more than 65,000 birds every night. In 2000, Paul and another "craniac" started giving crane behavior seminars at the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. November 2011 will be the 12th year of this workshop, and Paul is bringing a similar seminar to the Sandhill Crane Festival in Lodi in early November.

Official Website: http://www.goldengateaudubon.org/education/speaker-series/