Chris

Profile Picture and Leg Ring Combination Code

• Black
• Blue
• Red

What is this?

Each crane has a unique combination of 3 coloured rings on their right leg. This marking code helps to identify the crane in the wild.

Character profile:

Summer 2010:  Chris (Christine) hatched with very dark and fluffy plumage and is a very pretty bird. She has no siblings. She liked to explore a lot, so ended up being a bit of a loner for a while and also didn't like going to bed. She has bonded with the  group better but is quite low-ranking and makes up for it by taking it out on her human foster-parents, whom she likes to boss about.  She has developed a degree of clingy-ness too and can be hard to leave / get away from when in costume.  Sept 2010: Chris started becoming quite agressive and showed some extreme crouching responses  (refer to PDF guide to crane behaviour on crane life pages)  to our presence in costume, but observing her when we were not present in costume she has impeccable behaviour!  Observing her wild crane behaviour whilst unseen from a secret hide helped to inform the decision to reduce the number of times we appeared in costume with the birds.  She can often be found with Squidy and White-Black and often with Minnies (rather than Clarnece's) cohort.  Chris has a slightly dangling right leg in flight - but seems to walk well, and the leg does not seem to cause any hinderence to the bird. October 2010: As our contact with the birds as crane 'mum' and 'dad' has reduced substantially, so Chris's behaviour has improved! Sha is now spending a lot of time with Clarence's group as Minnie's cohort has broken up a bit. It is great to see her spending most of her time foraging with the other groups of birds, as before she was alone quite a lot.Nov 2010: In recent weeks the cranes have all joined forces with Clarences group and are now usually moving as a group of 20. As the nights draw in and it gets darker and harder to see the birds, Chris is still easy to spot as she is still flying with one leg slightly dropped. The group have found many new fields to explore and are often found foraging on maize stubbles, a new favourite food for Chris!Jan 2011 - It is great to see that Chris has just become one of the flock during the coldest December on record and has been keeping her head down and getting on with it! Her leg still dangles in flight, making her the only bird that is clearly indenfiable as an individual when airborne but it does not seem to impair her ability to walk or fly in any way.March 2011:  Chris is still doing well and behaving nicely as one of the flock. Her leg still dangles when she is flying, so we can always recognise her. As with Gemma and Bart, she has also become more of the more vigorous daners in the group. April 2011 In late April, Chris took a flight out to Shapwick NNR and Catcott Lows SWT reserve where she roosted the night along with Clarence, Gemma and Bart.  The next day, however, she returned and has been getting along well with the rest of the group.September 2011  The older birds have all been making regular visits to the pen, with much interaction taking place between the 2010 and 2011 cohorts.  When approached by the crane parents in costume, chris showed the most threatening behaviour, and she was definately willing to assert her dominance!

Crane Champions

Photos of Chris

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