Bird identification
 

I know it's not the best or clearest picture but I'm looking for identification of this bird. It's got a brownish red coloring to it, and it walks very upright. I haven't seen one fly yet. I saw this one in southern Central Alberta, west of Sundre. I have also seen them South of Pincher Creek.

Again, I'm sorry about the picture quality, it was a few hundred yards away and I only had my cell phone.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5a82010b61.jpg

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

bird
 

Looks like a sandhill crane to me.

Really hard to see in the photo. Assuming it is a tall bird with a longer bill? Would think it is either a Great Blue Heron or a Sandhill Crane. Coloration sounds like a Crane, but there may be a few other possibilities.
Can you describe how tall, beak shape, etc.?

2.5-3 feet tall maybe. Fairly short break, not much bigger than a goose , similar profile from what I could tell. The legs are tall and skinny, almost like they were meant for walking in water or tall grass.

Short beak sounds odd. Still think a Sandhill Crane is a good bet, but could also be an American Bittern. You might want to take a look on the Audubon website - good bird ID info there to get a better idea.

bird
 

The coloration is quite red to be a bittern, i have them at my place all summer long and all the ones I've seen are more towards brown / tan / yellow. The short beak is confounding though for sure.

I use an app called the Merlin bird ID, it's created by the cornell lab of Ornoithology. If you have a minute check that one out, I've found it handy.

I'm a little red/green colorblind, so don't see the red color in the photo. Makes things challenging at times.
Thinking of the short bill - another possibility might be a Sora Rail. Sounds a little big for a rail, but it is a wading bird (longer, thin legs), with a shorter bill.

Looks like a crane.

My first thought was Sandhill Crane, they can be vocal, could you hear it?

Yep for sure a sandhill crane I see them flying over Beaver Mines a lot. I have seen nesting pairs up the valley from here.

sandhill crane for sure

I think so too.
https://www.lenconnect.com/storyimag...-190419975.jpg

they are a cool bird to watch

I think it may be a sandhill after that picture. The water isn't exactly close by ND I would've thought they'd want it. Maybe there were water holes I couldn't see.
I couldn't hear any noises from it. The fact that it was "prancing" kind of had me thrown as well.

Thank you