# What 6' tall bird did I just see in Madison? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233 "2012-09-29T14:34:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/81 "2012-11-20T05:41:38Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > [Cerulean Warbler](http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cerulean_Warbler/id)? It’s got the white wing bar you mentioned, and the blue color too. > > I’m actually reading a book on this species-the author basically goes on a quest after it, since it’s become rather rare over the past few decades (I’ve never seen one tho I live off of its usual migration path). Sorry it took so long, but I did manage to see one again and you’re absolutely right! I tried to get a pic but couldn’t. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/82 "2012-11-20T21:10:53Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > My bet is on sandhill cranes… Maybe they were molting or something to account for the darker coloration. Or dirty. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/83 "2012-11-20T22:42:29Z")
It’s supposed to be nice until Friday so\*\* Boyo Jim \*\*will no doubt be back to help us out soon. ---
**Author:** ![riri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@riri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riri)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/84 "2014-08-14T03:33:27Z")
I know this topic is a bit old, but found this bird in my backyard. Same bird? [http://s23.postimg.org/6z05dxzyj/P1030126.jpg](http://s23.postimg.org/6z05dxzyj/P1030126.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/85 "2014-08-14T03:44:10Z")
That looks like a sandhill crane to me. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/86 "2014-08-14T14:59:11Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > . . .And, oh yes, it had a sharp beak, more like an arrow point. . . . [Holy Crap! They’re coming!](http://s294.photobucket.com/user/badger60/media/instmart_zps73773470.png.html#) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/87 "2014-08-14T16:19:54Z")
The sharp beak leans toward crane, not emu. Sandhill cranes are often discolored, because they wallow down in the mud and dirt. The ones up by Horicon Marsh often look like deer at a distance, because they are discolored by the reddish soil. When clean, they are a medium gray. Cranes are only about four feet tall, with their necks erect, so I’m inclined to think maybe emus from a nearby farm, which are escaping and going semi-feral all over the country. Sandhill cranes always occur in groups, small flocks or family groups, so three would not be unusual, but I think wandering emus are usually loners. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/88 "2014-08-14T17:50:29Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > [This article](http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/05/05/2143697/wild-goose-chase-nets-emu-just.html) from a few years ago in the Rock Hill Herald about an escaped emu is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in a newspaper. I have been unable to finish my breakfast since I read this: > [@](#): > > Mangrum, who owns two emus at his Porter Road home, where he also has llamas and goats inside a 6-foot high fence, had been called earlier by Dover the animal rescuer. He showed up pulling his horse trailer, and exited the truck armed with a fishing net. **He wore camouflage pants, apparently so the emu could not see him.** That last sentence keeps cracking me up! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/89 "2014-08-14T22:03:31Z")
> [@riri](#): > > I know this topic is a bit old, but found this bird in my backyard. Same bird? > [http://s23.postimg.org/6z05dxzyj/P1030126.jpg](http://s23.postimg.org/6z05dxzyj/P1030126.jpg) That’s pretty damn close. Might be it, though it’s hard to say because the ones I was looking at were upright. And it’s hard to tell how tall your bird might be if it was upright. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/90 "2014-08-14T22:47:56Z")
How many heads? Any chance it was a Pierson’s Puppeteer? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/91 "2014-08-15T01:26:44Z")
The thing is, Boyo, there are only a few species of really tall birds native to North America, and only a few exotics that could fit the bill. All the likely suspects have been named: sandhill crane, great blue heron, whooping crane, emu, rhea, or ostrich. Which was it? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233/92 "2014-08-15T02:09:15Z")
Was it hopping? Probably Marco Pogo. Tunnel Bob jumping out of the ground? Scanner Dan? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-6-tall-bird-did-i-just-see-in-madison/636233.md?page=4)