The sandhill crane is a large and magnificent bird that is found in wetlands in the central United States. They spend their breeding season in Wisconsin’s wetlands and are a common sight even in urban areas.
At one point Sandhill crane populations had dwindled so low they were near extinction. Aldo Leopold and other Wisconsin environmentalists were instrumental in publicizing their plight.
These birds are best known for their graceful dance-like movements, which they perform during courtship rituals and their very vocal conversations.
Habitat
There are two species of cranes (the other is the Whooping crane) and five subspecies in North America. They differ in size and region of the country. The Greater Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) is the largest and most common.
Sandhill cranes live in wetland areas, such as marshes, shallow waterways, and lakes. They are typically seen walking along the water’s edge or standing in shallow ponds.
Migration
In all transparency, we share the sandhill crane with Florida! Wisconsin serves as a breeding ground and enjoys them from March to November. Florida provides a winter retreat.
Several other states enjoy them as they travel the Mississippi Flyway while migrating.
On their southern fall migration, as many as 10,000 birds stop at Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area in Indiana.
They fly through Kentucky on the way and are occasionally seen taking a break at Barren River Lake State Resort Park.
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Appearance
They are pretty formidable-looking birds, quite tall with a wingspan up to seven feet and they are about four feet tall. Ironically they only typically weigh between eight to eleven pounds.
They have long red legs and bright orange bills with black markings on the back of their heads. The females are mostly grayish-brown while the males are more brightly colored with shades of red, pink, and purple on them!
Compare to the Great Heron
Sandhill Cranes and Great herons are often confused. They both live in marshlands although the sandhill is a tad bigger.
When you see a large bird flying, you can identify a sandhill crane if the neck is outstretched and the downward flap of the wings is followed by a quick upstroke.
The great blue heron has a visible black eye stripe and flies with its neck folded back. They also have more even wing strokes.
Senses
Sandhill cranes have good eyesight, a sense they use to watch out for predators. They also have good hearing and as we mentioned are very vocal.
They have enlarged olfactory sense centers in the brain however they don’t seem to rely on their sense of smell as much as hearing.
Social Behavior
They are very social birds and can be found in large groups. They are also known for their loud calls, which can be heard from a great distance.
Sand cranes make a variety of calls, including trumpeting and cackling. They often use body language to communicate as well, such as spreading their wings and neck feathers or bowing to each other.
Fun Facts
Great flying abilities up to 60 miles per hour and reaching heights of up to 10,000 feet during migration periods.
They make interesting sounds such as a clackety-clack and bugling call.
They have a huge wingspan of 6-7 feet.
They camouflage themselves during spring nesting by putting mud on their feathers.
Crane chicks grow fast - sometimes an inch a day in summer.
Sandhill Cranes in Madison, WI. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Courtship Dance
They are also known for their elaborate courtship dances, which can include leaping into the air and spinning around. Male cranes often perform these dances in an attempt to impress females.
It has been compared to marionette puppets frolicking up and down on strings. During this elaborate dance, the pair is very vocal. The male utters a high-pitched note followed quickly by the female's two-note answer.
They can be heard two miles away!
Reproduction
Cranes are monogamous and select a mate when they are approximately four years old. If not killed by a hunter or a predator they will spend the next twenty-five to thirty years with the same mate.
The parents build mounded nests on the ground in grassy areas next to lakes and marshlands. The nests are not very visible because they blend in with the sand.
The female lays 2-3 eggs and both parents hatch them and feed them until they mature. In Wisconsin, this is typically in mid-May.
Parents guard the eggs against predators such as coyotes, raccoons, and badgers.
Sandhill crane chick being fed by a parent. Photo by Nigel.
Chicks
The chicks hatch after 30 days and have yellow and brown feathers. They are precocial which means they are born with feathers. Unlike songbirds who are born naked.
After about two months, the young cranes can fly and leave the nest.
Crane families migrate south together. Young birds that have outgrown their parents, hang out together in groups called a "bachelor flock."
Staging
The world is a stage! Sandhill cranes gather in the fall in large groups. These groups of sometimes thousands of birds are referred to as stages.
Places to see staging in southern Wisconsin:
Goose Pond - Madison Audubon property
Grand River Marsh
Devil’s Lake State Park in Baraboo
Dane County - Lower Wisconsin River
Cassel Prairie
Vocalization
They are also known for their loud calls, which can be heard from a great distance.
Listen to the Sandhill Crane
Diet
Sandhill cranes primarily eat plants, aquatic tubers, worms, grasshoppers, snails, frogs. They will also eat insects and other small mammals when the opportunity arises.
They can be a problem to farmers because they will sometimes eat seeds and seedlings, especially corn plants. Crane researchers are developing ways to make corn seeds taste bad so that cranes do not eat corn seeds from the field.
Benefit to environment
Sand cranes in Wisconsin eat a variety of things, are beneficial to the environment by eating many harmful insects.
Conservation
In the 1800s the sandhill crane was approaching extinction. Habitat loss due to unregulated mining in the upper midwest as well as hunting had decimated crane populations.
Enter Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold was a famous environmentalist who moved to Madison WI at the age of 37 to transfer with the US Forest Department.
Aldo devoted most of his life to protecting nature, beginning with becoming a game warden in 1909, but it wasn't until he wrote "Sand County Almanac" that he became remembered as a prominent environmentalist.
He led the way to conserve natural resources and promote sustainable development.
In this book, he proposes a land ethic that states humans should see themselves as only one strand in a tapestry of life and not the center. This was a revolutionary concept to many European settlers.
During his life, Leopold taught that we must respect natural communities - soils, waters, plants, and animals - and stated that care for people cannot be separated from care for the land.
While Leopold did not outwardly recognize the sustainable land management practiced by indigenous people he did acknowledge that we need to get away from treating the land as a commodity that we exploit. A common European viewpoint.
Our goal should be to have sustainable goals that are more aligned with Indigenous views that emphasize kinship with other species.
The Aldo Leopold Foundation is located in Fairfield WI, about 15 minutes northeast of Baraboo, WI, and an hour north of Madison. They offer a number of in-person and virtual education programs.
In 1916, the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act was signed, protecting the remaining birds in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Ontario, Canada.
The population of sandhill cranes in Wisconsin has been on the rise in recent years, thanks to conservation efforts. But there's always more that can be done to help these graceful birds.
Sign in Madison. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Ways to Help Sandhill Cranes
Since 1976, the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, has held an annual statewide crane count in early April. They encourage the public to participate.
The International Crane Foundation also has lots of free educational materials for teachers!
4 Things You Can Do To Help Sandhill Cranes
Pick up trash, especially fishing line and plastics along waterways as the cranes can get tangled in them.
Don’t feed them. Foods such as bread and corn are especially bad for them. Feeding can also make them aggressive towards people.
Work in your community to establish green space and conservancy areas.
Cranes are sometimes hit by cars. Have signs made like the one above to alert drivers.
Wildlife Rehabilitation
If you see an injured crane please call your local wildlife rehabilitation facility immediately.
One of the challenges to rehabbing sandhill cranes is that the chicks imprint. Imprinting is instinctual learning that takes place in young precocial birds. They learn quickly to recognize and bond with their parents. This knowledge remains with them throughout life and the reason family groups are so important.
During crane rehabilitation, chicks are fed with a puppet and later escorted in wetlands by a person in a crane suit. They listen to recorded vocalization. This is to ensure they do not bond with humans and learn appropriate bird behavior.
Author, Ame Vanorio, is the founder of Fox Run EEC. As a new Wisconsin resident, she is thrilled beyond belief to have Sandhill Cranes right in her neighborhood.
When white European settlers came to America they saw a land rich in natural resources. They looked at the land and saw many things that could be harvested and sent back to Europe to sell. Trees, wildlife skins, tobacco were all in great demand across the ocean. In this blog, we will discuss how the Native Americans were the first environmentalists on American soil and how their practices can benefit the world today.