Bird Identification Please

There appear to be two types of birds here. The gray ones in the foreground I believe are sandhill cranes. Can anyone identify the darker colored ones in flight with the distinctive white V pattern on the tail? Thanks.

Those seem to be sandhill cranes on the ground. A closer image with a telephoto lens may help.

 

Sandhill cranes below

 

Edited October 26, 2018 by ShunCheung

Unless I am mistaken, the ones in the back are Canada Geese. Search Canada Goose Photos Flying Away and you will see the same white V.

Unless I am mistaken, the ones in the back are Canada Geese. Search Canada Goose Photos Flying Away and you will see the same white V.

I was also thinking about Canada geese, but they are quite small in the image and it is a bit hard for me to judge their size. I used to work for AT&T in Holmdel, New Jersey. They had a large (human-made) pond outside of the building. It attracted so many Canada geese that they were a nuisance; in particular their droppings got the entire lawn dirty. It got to a point that I no longer photograph them much. They are abundant here in California also.

 

Here is one of the few Canada goose images I have.

 

definitely Canada Geese

There are definitely cranes of one sort or the other there too - the 'look-like-an-SST' of the bird world

Thanks for the responses everyone. This was the best shot I could get. They were already in flight and I would have missed any shot at all if I had tried to switch to a longer lens. So I had to get what I could with the lens I had on the camera, which was a 17-55mm. I cropped the image to get a little closer look but I didn't want to crop too much. It looks like Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes then.

Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes without a doubt.

 

Can I suggest that anyone requesting an ID in future include the location as it can help narrow down the species considerably.

By any chance the original image was captured in the Central Valley in California? E.g. in the Sacramento area, you can easily find those two species around this time of the year.

They're commonly together all over the USA, Canada geese and sandhill cranes. I tried hard not to get any geese in my SHC shots, but here are a couple, down near Monte Vista, CO:

 

See me dance... by David Stephens, on Flickr

Actually, here in MT, I have not seen the cranes with Canada Geese, usually a pair alone or small group but the other day saw Great Blue Herons with the geese - first time ever but too short a lens to capture without trespassing. Edited October 29, 2018 by Sandy Vongries

Actually, here in MT, I not seen the cranes with Canada Geese, usually a pair alone or small group but the other day saw Great Blue Herons with the geese - first time ever but too short a lens to capture without trespassing.

 

Sandy, do you see many cranes at all? We only see them in CO on their migration. In other parts of the USA they hang around a lot.

 

Dave

We don't have flocks - a pair to three pair at the most - sometimes a pair with a singleton. They are usually feeding in fields at some distance from the road, June through early / mid October. I am talking about Central Montana in areas near my place. I haven't seen them further West or North in the state. They may well be there, but I wouldn't have missed seeing them if in quantity.