Species Name: Grus Canadensis - Sandhill Crane.

Height: 3 to 5 feet

Description: Sandhill cranes are wading birds that have long black legs, long necks and black chisel-shaped bills. Adults stand almost 3 feet tall and have a wing span of 6 feet or more. Mature birds are an ash-gray color with a bright red forehead. Immature birds are quite mottled with coppery or rusty feathers and lack the red forehead of adults. Adult plumage is attained at 2 and a half years. In general, males and females are virtually indistinguishable but within a breeding pair, males tend to be larger than the females.

Range: Sandhill cranes are the most abundant of the worlds cranes. They are widely (though intermittently) distributed throughout North America, extending into Cuba and far northeastern Siberia. The three migratory subspecies (lesser, Greater and Canadian) are distributed across a broad breeding range in the northern U.S. and Canada as well as eastern Siberia, with wintering grounds in the southern United States and northern Mexico.

Habitat: Breeds in open marshes or bogs and in wet grasslands and meadows. Feeds in marshes and grain fields.

Nesting: Nests of all Sandhill Cranes are usually low mounds built out of dominant vegetation in the nesting area. Typically nests are located in wetlands, but Sandhill Cranes will sometimes nest in uplands, especially in Cuba. Females usually lay two eggs and incubation (by both sexes) lasts 29-32 days. The male takes the primary role of defending the nest against possible danger. Chicks fledge at 67-75 days.

Diet: All cranes are omnivorous. Sandhill Cranes are generalists and feed on a wide variety of plant tubers, grains, small vertebrates and invertebrates such as insects or worms.

Voice: Loud, rattling kar-r-r-o-o-o with multiple variations.

Cool facts: The Sandhill Crane does not breed until it is two to seven years old. It can live up to the age of 20. Mated pairs stay together year round and migrate south as a group with their offspring.

Tips on photographing this species: Sandhill Cranes are conviently gray, so exposure is not usually an issue. They are skittish and when near roads are usually hidden by vegetation or brushy willows. Patience and persistence are the key words here. Depending on your location, sandhills can be easy to photograph or they can be very difficult. Here in Oklahoma they are a challenge but in Bosque del Apache they are abundant and quite easy to get good images.

References: 1. Tacha, T. C., Nesbitt, S. A., and Vohs,P. A. 1992. Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) in The Birds of North America, No. 31 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.

2. Paul, T., Rosenburg, D. and Rothe,T. Sandhill Crane: Wildlife Notebook Series - Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

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