ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Wildlife managers at one of
the nation's premiere bird-watching spots have a mystery on their hands.
A strange-looking bird with dark plumage showed
up at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge earlier this month to join
the tens of thousands of cranes and geese that spend the winter in the Rio
Grande Valley.
The problem: No one knows exactly what kind of
bird it is.
The debate has spread from the refuge's fields
and wetlands onto Facebook, where guesses have ranged from some kind of mutant
to a Thanksgiving turkey disguised as a crane for self-preservation. Birding
experts from New York to California continued studying photographs of the bird
Thursday, spurring even more theories.
The refuge posted a photograph of the bird on
its Facebook page this week, sparking dozens of comments. Aside from the
disguised turkey and oil-slicked bird theories, some suggested it could be a
hybridization between a crane and an emu or a trumpeter, which are native to
South America.
It could be a sandhill crane that has come down
with a feather-staining fungal infection.
Or maybe he—or she—has a genetic disorder that
results in too much melanin production.
"It's different. It's got to be a
hybrid-cross more than likely, but what, we don't know," Refuge Manager
Aaron Mize told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
Members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Team
Sapsucker—known as some of the best birders anywhere, they hold the U.S. record
for finding the most bird species in 24 hours—say it's a sandhill crane.
Continued:
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22091159/mystery-bird-spotted-at-nm-national-refuge
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