Pick Me! Pick Me!
It can take young Whooping cranes a long time—one, two, or three years—to develop pair bonds from associations in subadult flocks on their wintering grounds. Once the bond is formed, it's hard to break. It takes time and effort for cranes to form a new bond, but pair formation can go much quicker in older birds, as when a bird loses its mate. A bird that lost its mate may pair up again in only a few weeks.

Courtesy of Sue Kersey