There’s a mating pair of sandhill cranes that will raise chicks in my parents backyard every couple years. They’re surprisingly big birds and are really nice to see each year
...And this is how I learn that the line "Steele Dakota's sandhill crane" from mewithoutYou's Nine Stories is talking about a bird species and not a literal mechanical crane. Apparently they have the largest sculpture of a sandhill crane in the world at 40ft (which makes more sense in the context of the song than a mechnical one!) https://www.ndtourism.com/steele/attractions-entertainment/f...
They're remarkably standoffish outside of the city. They'll scurry as soon as you come close, unless they're nesting, at which point they stand forlorn a marked distance away from their nest waiting for you to leave.
Oddly enough, within town, they're remarkably tame. Maybe with enough humans around, they learn that we're not a threat, and it's costly to evade a non threat. Likewise the turkeys. My daily bike commute goes past a public golf course, and there's usually a pair of cranes there, sometimes with little ones. They ignore me.
I've heard this a lot about geese and swans. It doesn't match my experience at all. These birds won't just randomly attack you, but they will stand their ground and defend themselves and their families. I've come to believe the people who think these birds are aggressive are either the bully kids who chase ducks and pigeons but were shocked when a goose refused to be bullied, or people with zero empathy or respect and can't understand not to get in another animal's face or at least understand they don't want you to come any closer.
I think you mean the Untitled Goose Game? That's a fun short indie game where you are in control of the goose. If someone associates those actions with real life geese, there's some big disconnect about how the world works.
I mean, as far as I'm concerned they're entitled to be. I'd be pretty pissed off too if I was forced to nest in a ditch between the highway and the Walmart parking lot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Gosling