Sandhill Cranes are large birds that are native to much of North America. Adults are mostly grey overall with a red forehead and white cheeks. Young Sandhill Cranes are called colts and are raised by both parents, who typically mate for life and remain together throughout the year.
Sandhill Cranes are named for an important migratory stop for the birds located in Nebraska. Their call is a loud, unmistakable trumpet-like sound that carries over great distance.
Sandhill Cranes have been around for a very long time. Fossil records in Nebraska indicate the species may be over 2 million years old!
The Sandhill Crane is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
We're celebrating cranes on the Birdorable blog this week! Today we'd like to share a bird term that relates to cranes and other birds. Let's learn about what it means to be precocial! The term precocial comes from the Latin praecocia, which... Read more »
Crane fans in Wisconsin are talking about a unique chick being raised by a mixed pair of cranes in Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. The chick appears to be the offspring of a male Whooping Crane (identified as DAR 16-11) and a female Sandhill Crane. The chick, who... Read more »
