Birdfinding.info ⇒ Widespread and locally or seasonally common in several regions of North America, especially the Great Plains, western Great Lakes, Great Basin, and central Florida. The bulk of the global population gathers annually in late March along the Platte River in south-central Nebraska between Sutherland and Grand Island. In winter large concentrations can be found at several wildlife refuges in the southwestern U.S., such as Bosque del Apache in New Mexico.
Sandhill Crane
Antigone canadensis
Breeds in North America and northeastern Siberia; winters in the U.S. and northern Mexico. Comprises five or six subspecies:
“Lesser Sandhill Crane” (canadensis): breeds in arctic and subarctic habitats from northeastern Siberia to Baffin Island; winters in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico.
“Greater Sandhill Crane” (tabida): breeds at temperate latitudes from British Columbia south to the Great Basin and east to Quebec; winters mainly in the southwestern U.S. and Florida.
“Mississippi Sandhill Crane” (pulla): resident in coastal Mississippi.
“Florida Sandhill Crane” (pratensis): resident in peninsular Florida.
“Cuban Sandhill Crane” (nesiotes): resident on Cuba and the Isle of Youth.
Approximate distribution of the Sandhill Crane. © Xeno-Canto 2022
Breeding. The “Lesser Sandhill Crane” nests in tundra and muskeg marshlands at high latitudes over a wide expanse of northern Canada, Alaska, and northeastern Siberia. In Siberia, on the northern coastal plain from the Chukotka Peninsula west to the Indigirka Delta and along the Bering Sea coast south to Dezhnova Bay. In Alaska, locally throughout the mainland. In Canada, widespread from the Yukon east to the western shores of Hudson and James Bays, south to the northern portions of British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces, and north in the Arctic Archipelago on Banks, Victoria, Prince of Wales, Somerset, Bylot, Baffin, Southampton, and Coats Islands. Apparently expanding eastward locally into northern Quebec and possibly Labrador as well.
The ”Greater Sandhill Crane” nests in freshwater marshes of southern Canada and the western and north-central U.S. In Canada, from central British Columbia east across the prairies and southern Ontario into adjacent parts of southern Quebec. In the U.S., there are two major subpopulations: one throughout the Great Basin and intermontane valleys of Montana and Wyoming; and the other in the eastern prairies and Great Lakes south to northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and northwestern Ohio. Apparently expanding eastward locally into Pennsylvania, New York, New England, and the St. Lawrence Valley.
Breeding Bird Survey Abundance Map: Sandhill Crane. U.S. Geological Survey 2015
Resident Populations. The “Mississippi Sandhill Crane” (pulla) is a critically endangered resident of the coastal pine savanna habitat protected by the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, which is its stronghold. The refuge was established in 1975, when the remnant population numbered 30 to 35. As of the early 2020s, the population was estimated at ~130.
The “Florida Sandhill Crane” (pratensis) is resident in peninsular Florida, mainly south of Jacksonville, with a few in the Okefenokee Swamp of southern Georgia. The population has been estimated at 4,000 to 5,000, the vast majority of which reside in the Kissimmee and Desoto Prairies of central Florida.
The “Cuban Sandhill Crane” (nesiotes) is an endangered and declining resident of savannas of western and central Cuba and the Isle of Youth. In surveys conducted from 1994 to 2002, the total population size was estimated between 500 and 600. The largest remaining subpopulations were in three areas: (1) ~170 on the Isle of Youth; (2) ~130 in the Zapata Swamp region; and (3) ~240 in several groups on the north-central plains of Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Ávila, and Camagüey.
Nonbreeding. Most “Lesser” and western “Greater Sandhill Cranes” winter in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. The main wintering areas are large open wetland complexes from the Central Valley of California east to the coastal plain of Texas and southwestern Louisiana, north to southern Oregon, northern Utah, southwestern Colorado, and central Nebraska, and south in Mexico to Zacatecas, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas. Small scattered flocks occasionally winter in the Pacific states of Mexico south to Colima, and south of normal wintering range in central and eastern Mexico.
Sandhill Cranes, dancing in springtime courtship ritual. (Echo, Oregon; March 2, 2022.) © Mark Ludwick
Eastern “Greaters” winter mainly in Florida and southern Georgia. Small numbers of “Greaters” winter locally north to southwestern British Columbia, Montana, Minnesota, southern Ontario, Maine, and Nova Scotia. Stragglers occasionally winter farther north into Canada.
Movements. Most “Lesser” and western “Greater Sandhill Cranes” leave their wintering grounds in late February or early March. The vast majority—about 80% of the world population—migrate over the western Great Plains, congregating in late March in central Nebraska along the Platte River.
The southbound migration is much more protracted and dispersed, with departures from high arctic breeding grounds beginning in mid-August and last arrivals on wintering grounds in December.
Regular as a vagrant to East Asia in fall, winter, and spring, with records from eastern China, South Korea, Japan (mainly Kyushu), and Taiwan. Many records are of multiple individuals, some returning to the same sites year after year.
More sporadic as a vagrant to Europe, with several spring and summer records from Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and fall and winter records from England, Scotland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Hungary.
Casual on Bermuda, where it has been found about once per decade. Accidental on the Yucatán Peninsula and the northern Bahamas (Andros and Abaco).
Recorded once in Hawaii: an immature captured in a field near Kahuku, Oahu, October 23, 1933.
Identification
Unique in its range: a gray crane with a red forecrown and white or whitish cheeks and throat.
Sandhill Crane. (Town Center Park, Gilberts, Illinois; October 15, 2017.) © Patrick Ricketson
Sandhill Crane, facial close-up showing bare red forecrown. (Elgin, Illinois; August 8, 2021.) © Mike Losacco
The red forecrown is bare or nearly bare skin. The legs and bill are dark, usually blackish.
Sandhill Crane, showing extensive staining caused by preening with reddish soil. (Calgary, Alberta; July 13, 2022.) © Calvin S.
The plumage is almost entirely gray, but often extensively stained rusty or brown as a result of preening with soil—apparently used as camouflage during the nesting season.
In flight, the wings and tail show contrasting blackish tips and trailing edges.
Sandhill Crane in flight, showing blackish wingtips and trailing edges. (Guthrie, Kentucky; January 2, 2022.) © Iris Kilpatrick
Sandhill Crane, juvenile showing short, orangish bill and almost entirely reddish plumage. (Norfolk, Connecticut; September 4, 2022.) © Debbie Lombardo
Sandhill Crane, immature showing mostly gray plumage with remnant rusty tinge on wings and crown. (Warren, Maine; October 30, 2021.) © Robin Ohrt
Juveniles have rusty-orangish plumage on the head, neck and upperparts, with gray underparts. The juvenile’s bill is orangish and noticeably shorter than the adult’s.
Sandhill Crane, immature in the process of losing the feathering on its forecrown. (Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan; December 11, 2021.) © Jocelyn Anderson
On older immatures, the rusty feathers are replaced by gray ones, as the facial feathers fall out to leave the bare red forecrown.
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of five or six recognized subspecies.
More Images of the Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Crane, showing extensive staining caused by preening with reddish soil. (Knox Lake, Ohio; August 15, 2021.) © Matt Mason
Sandhill Crane, facial close-up showing bare red forecrown. (Sweetwater Wetlands Park, Gainesville, Florida; June 28, 2022.) © Lloyd Davis
Sandhill Crane, immature and adult. (Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California; October 30, 2021.) © Matt Davis
Sandhill Crane, juvenile. (Southeast Farallon Island, California; September 26, 2013.) © Cameron Rutt
Sandhill Crane in flight, dorsal view. (Fryeburg, Maine; April 5, 2021.) © Steven Liffmann
Sandhill Crane in flight, ventral view. (Hawthorn Woods, Illinois; March 3, 2021.) © Stephen Hurst
References
Alderfer, J., and J.L. Dunn. 2014. National Geographic Complete Birds of North America (Second Edition). National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.
BirdLife International. 2021. Grus canadensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T22692078A188597759. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22692078A188597759.en. (Accessed November 7, 2022.)
Brazil, M. 2009. Birds of East Asia. Princeton University Press.
eBird. 2022. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed November 7, 2022.)
Gálvez-Aguilera, X., and F. Chavez-Ramirez. 2010. Distribution, Abundance, and Status of Cuban Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis nesiotes). The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 122:556-562.
Howell, S.N.G., and S. Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press.
Hughes, J.M. 2008. Cranes: A Natural History of a Bird in Crisis. Firefly Books, Richmond Hill, Ontario.
International Crane Foundation. 2022. Species Field Guide: Sandhill Crane. https://savingcranes.org/learn/species-field-guide/sandhill-crane/. (Accessed November 7, 2022.)
Johnson, S.R., and D.R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska.
Kirwan, G.M., A. Levesque, M. Oberle, and C.J. Sharpe. 2019. Birds of the West Indies. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Mullarney, K., L. Svensson, D. Zetterström, and P.J. Grant. 1999. Birds of Europe. Princeton University Press.
Pyle, R.L., and P. Pyle. 2017. The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. Version 2 (January 1, 2017). http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press.
Salt, W.R., and J.R. Salt. 1976. The Birds of Alberta. Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton, Alberta.
Sibley, D.A. 2014. The Sibley Guide to Birds (Second Edition). Alfred A. Knopf. New York.
Xeno-Canto. 2022. Sandhill Crane – Antigone canadensis. https://xeno-canto.org/species/Antigone-canadensis. (Accessed November 7, 2022.)