Two Sandhill Cranes Have Adopted A Canada Gosling, And It’s Ridiculously Adorable

Families can come in all sorts of different shapes, sizes, and even species, as it turns out. That’s certainly the case in Madison, Wisconsin, where a pair of sandhill cranes with a leggy young chick of their own have also adopted a fluffy little Canada gosling.

If that sounds pretty darn adorable, we can confirm that yes, yes it is. Clearly lots of other people think so too, with a whole bunch of birders reportedly having headed to get a look at the feathered interspecies family since they were first spotted back in May.

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According to local photographer Alan Ginsberg, the adoption came about after the heavy rains submerged the cranes’ nest, forcing them to look for another. They found what appeared to be an abandoned Canada goose nest, settled in – and then a few days later, out popped a Canada gosling from an egg that had been hidden.

“A fuzzy yellow gosling emerged and, as nature does best, promptly bonded with the first warm, towering creature it saw,” said Ginsberg in a Facebook post. The bond went both ways, it seems, with the mother crane seen tending to both chicks “seemingly unbothered by the genetic mystery waddling beside her.”

When the original owners of the nest reappeared “the male crane was having none of it” and charged at the geese, Ginsberg recalled. Finders keepers, as they say.

Reports of interspecies adoptions between Canada geese and sandhill cranes are typically thought as rare, but that assumption may well be challenged. Back in 2011, Homer in Alaska became the home of a Canada goose that appeared to think it was a crane, and crane adoptions of goslings were seen elsewhere in both 2019 and 2024.

In both of those cases, the goslings were not long for this world – one was found dead of unknown causes, and the other died after ending up in a dog’s mouth. What might be the fate of the current Canada gosling? There are multiple possible hurdles to survival – the two species eat differently, act differently, fly differently.

But, as University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ornithologist Michael Ward told Smithsonian Magazine, “It’s not like it’s doomed to die,” explaining that it could one day end up back with its fellow Canada geese.

In the meantime, Ginsberg has keeping tabs on the family – particularly when it comes to their differing eating habits.

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“The crane parents and their leggy teen colt have fully embraced their majestic water-wading lifestyle,” wrote Ginsberg in a June 12 Facebook post. With the grace of runway models (if runway models occasionally dunked their entire heads into pond muck), they stroll through the shallows, delicately fishing out gourmet delights like worms, water bugs, and whatever else qualifies as fine dining in the bird world.”

The Canada gosling, on the other hand, is “basically the vegan at a Texas BBQ” and “has taken a very different approach to mealtime,” said the photographer. “Instead of wading like a crane, he prefers to dine al fresco from a stationary log or rock like some kind of feathered food critic: 'I’ll be eating from here today, thank you. Water is for swimming, not submersion.'”

That’s the sort of difference that might present a challenge to the success of the adoption – but while the future of the gosling is unclear, for now, the family seems to have adapted pretty well. “They now forage more often than not near the Official Family Rock or Snack Log, proving that even birds will bend over backwards (or downwards) for the baby,” Ginsberg said.

[H/T: Smithsonian Magazine]