CRANES
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Wading Birds - Cranes
Sandhill Crane
The Sandhill Crane is a tall gray bird of open grasslands, meadows, and wetlands. It congregates in huge numbers in migration.
Sandhill Cranes eat mostly grains and seeds, some insects, other invertebrates, and small vertebrates.
Sandhill Cranes are heavy bodied, long-necked, long-legged birds of open grasslands and freshwater marshes. Noted for their distinctive, penetrating bugling calls, often heard well before the birds are seen, and for their elaborate courtship dancing, they are among the oldest living birds. Six subspecies have been described, three nonmigratory. This species nests in Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada, in states around the Great Lakes, westward across Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon, and in the southeastern United States to Cuba and the Isle of Pines. Most Sandhill Crane populations are now stable or increasing in size, including the mid-continent population that is hunted. Their wing stroke pattern, with a snapping upstroke and slower downstroke, differentiates cranes from other long-legged, long-necked birds.
•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.
Thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for the above info.
