Sandhill Crane
Grus canadensis

Very large bird
Long neck
Long Legs
Gray body, may be stained reddish
Red forehead
White cheek
Tufted feathers over rump
Size: 47 in
Wingspan: 79 in
Weight: 120-173 ounces
Sexes look alike, male slightly larger

Syllables:   sand-hill crane
Pronunciation:   saend hIl kren

NOTES

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The Sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) is a large crane.

Adults are grey; they have a red crown, white cheeks and a long dark pointed bill. They have long dark legs which trail behind in flight and a long neck that is kept straight in flight. Immature birds do not have a red crown; they have reddish brown upper parts and gray underparts. Adult cranes can reach four feet in height and weigh five to eight pounds, with a wing span of up to six feet. Both sexes look alike.

Their breeding habitat is marshes and bogs in central and northern Canada, Alaska, part of the Midwestern and southeastern United States  and Siberia. They nest in marsh vegetation or on the ground close to water. The female lays two eggs  on a mound of vegetation. Cranes mate for life; both parents feed the young who are soon able to feed themselves. The Sandhill Crane does not breed until it is two to seven years old. It can live up to 25 years in the wild; in captivity they have been known to live more than twice that span. Mated pairs stay together year round, and migrate south as a group with their offspring.

Birds on the Gulf of Mexico are permanent residents. Others migrate to the southwestern United States  south to Mexico. The Platte River at the edge of Nebraska's Sand Hills in the American Midwest is an important stopover for up to 450,000 of these birds during migration. This crane is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

These birds forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes probing with their bills. They are omnivorous, eating insects, aquatic plants and animals, rodents, seeds and berries. Outside of the nesting season, they forage in large flocks, often in cultivated areas.

This crane frequently gives a loud trumpeting call that suggests a French-style "r" rolled in the throat. Sandhill Cranes in flight can be differentiated from herons in that they fly with their necks extended and by their nearly constant calls.

Sandhill Cranes have been used as foster parents for Whooping Crane eggs and young in reintroduction schemes for that species, a project which failed as these foster-raised Whooping Cranes did not recognise other Whooping Cranes as their conspecifics—attempting instead, unsuccessfully, to pair with Sandhills.

Sandhill Crane

Scientific classification

Kingdom:  Animalia
Phylum:   Chordata
Class:   Aves
Order: Gruidformes
Family: Gruidae
Genus:   Grus
Species:  G. canadensis

Binomial name
Grus canadensis