Rare crane spotted in central Idaho

CAREY (AP) - A crane native to Siberia has been spotted in central Idaho, igniting debate on whether it was blown off course or escaped from a sanctuary.

The hooded crane, identified by its red-and-black crown, dark-gray body and white neck, appeared earlier this week in a field east of the farming community of Carey near the Carey Lake Wildlife Management Area.

Poo Wright-Pulliam, Jean Seymour and Judy Foster spotted the bird, which has been feeding with sandhill cranes.

"I'm thinking it's a wild bird that maybe wanted to get out of town for a while," Wright-Pulliam told the Idaho Mountain Express.

Adult hooded cranes are about 3 feet tall. The International Crane Foundation says there are fewer than 10,000 wild hooded cranes in the world. Some 80 percent of them spend the winter on the Japanese island of Kyushu at the Izumi Feeding Station.

Cliff Weisse of Island Park drove to Carey and spotted the bird last week. He's a member of the Idaho Bird Records Committee, which keeps track of rare sightings.

He said three hooded cranes, which can live up to 40 years, are believed to have escaped in 2001 from a private Idaho enclosure. Weisse said he's leaning toward the escape theory of the recently spotted crane but he can't be sure because an escaped crane would likely have been spotted before.

"In a way, it's far-fetched that it would get missed for nine years," said Weisse.

Also, he said, the bird doesn't have leg bands, required on captive birds. He said if the bird flies north, that would likely mean it's a wild bird. And if it remains, it's likely an escaped bird.

"If it remains around Carey all summer, I think we'll know what it is," Weisse said.