- Antigone canadensis
Grus canadensis
Identification
L. 34-48" (86-122 cm) W. 6' 8" (2 m)
Plumage often appears rusty because of iron stains from water of tundra ponds
- Very tall, with long neck and legs
- Largely grey
- Red forehead
Immature browner, no red on head
Distribution
Breeds from Siberia and Alaska east across Arctic Canada and the United States.
Winters to southern US and Cuba.
Taxonomy
Also placed in the genus Grus.
Subspecies
There are 6 subspecies[1]:
- A. c. canadensis:
- Arctic North America and eastern Siberia; winters south-western US and northern Mexico
- A. c. rowani:
- British Columbia to northern Ontario; winters to northern Mexico
- A. c. tabida:
- Mid-continental North America; winters southern US and northern Mexico
- A. c. pulla:
- Gulf Coast of southern US
- A. c. pratensis:
- A. c. nesiotes:
- Cuba and Isle of Pines
Habitat
Large freshwater marshes, prairie ponds, and marshy tundra; also on prairies and grainfields during migration and in winter.
Behaviour
Diet
They have a very varied diet which changes with seasonal availability. Items generally consumed consist of tubers, corms, berries, acorns, corn, both adult and larval insects, snails, reptiles, amphibians, nestlings and small mammals.
Breeding
The mating dance of the Sandhill Crane is spectacular. Facing each other, members of a pair leap into the air with wings extended and feet thrown forward. Then they bow to each other and repeat the performance, uttering loud croaking calls. Courting birds also run about with their wings outstretched and toss tufts of grass in the air.
The nest is a large mound of grass and aquatic plants in an undisturbed marsh.The clutch contains two buff eggs, spotted with brown.
Migration
These cranes migrate in great flocks and assemble in vast numbers at places like the Platte River in Nebraska. Here it is possible to see what must have been a common sight when the species bred over most of the interior United States.
Vocalisation
Voice: A loud rattling kar-r-r-r-o-o-o
Conservation Status
The Mississippi Sandhill Crane, G. c. pulla, is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Mississippi. Apparently the Sandhill Crane was always more numerous than the larger Whooping Crane, and the fact that it breeds mostly in the remote Arctic has saved it from the fate of its relative. But it is sensitive to human disturbance, and the draining of marshes has reduced nesting populations in the United States.
The Mississippi subspecies declined in the mid-20th century when its preferred savannah habitat was planted over with slash pines. Commercial and residential development, the building of highways, pollution, and other factors have caused further deterioration to the habitat. Most of the current crane population and its habitat are protected in the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. The Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge to the southeast may be able to sustain a second population of cranes.[2]
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Archibald, G.W., Meine, C.D. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2020). Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53556 on 14 February 2020).
- All About Birds
- Gerber, B. D., J. F. Dwyer, S. A. Nesbitt, R. C. Drewien, C. D. Littlefield, T. C. Tacha, and P. A. Vohs (2014). Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.31
- Ivey, G., Herziger, C. Sandhill Crane Monitoring at Staten Island 2002-03 PDF.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Sandhill Crane. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sandhill_Crane
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
