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Our Region's Native Junipers
The Sandhill Crane
Bonneville Cutthroat Trout
The Sandhill Crane

The Sandhill Crane
Over the month of June, we have held a contest to determine what our community considers its favorite bird of the sagebrush steppe. The Sandhill crane (scientific name: Grus canadensis) is the winner by just one vote! The Sandhill crane is a quintessential part of the Western Landscape, and we in the Sagebrush Steppe are lucky enough to see them regularly! In fact, the Gray’s Lake Valley hosts the largest nesting population of greater Sandhill cranes in the world. They use the Gray’s Lake National Wildlife Refuge to stage their migration where each year nearly 3,000 birds regularly take flight.

The Sandhill crane is a large, gray bird with a long neck, long legs, and a red forehead. They are part of the Gruidae family (crane family) and are one of only 15 species of cranes in the world. They can stand almost 4 feet tall, have a wing span of approximately 6 ½ feet, and can weigh up to 10 pounds. These birds can be found in Idaho in the summer months in open marshes, wetlands, grasslands, and meadows. In the winter, they migrate south to areas such as Florida and Texas.



Sandhill cranes are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals) and have a diet mainly of grains, seeds, insects, and small vertebrates. Sandhill cranes begin mating when they are between 2 to 7 years old and mate for life. During the summer months they migrate to the nesting grounds to mate. Surprisingly, they return to the same nesting grounds year after year to mate and raise their young. Sandhill cranes are famous for their courtship dance. If you ever have the opportunity to observe the dance it is well worth the time. They will bow, jump around, and throw sticks. Once one bird in the flock begins dancing, many other birds begin to follow until almost the entire flock is dancing. This dance is an amazing sight to see. Once the courtship has taken place they will build their nests on large mounds of vegetation in water and typically lay two oval shaped eggs. Their eggs are pale brownish with marks that are a darker brown all over the eggs. They eggs hatch after about 30 days. When the chicks are born they are covered with down feathers and are able to walk shortly after hatching. They begin to eat on their own in as little as one day and are able to fly within 10 weeks. Both parents help raise the young and migrate south with them at the end of the summer to the winter habitat.


Sources
www.bakersanctuary.org/crane
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane
www.fws.gov/Refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=14612
© 2009 Sagebrush Steppe Regional Land Trust    PO Box 1404, Pocatello ID 83204    (208) 241-4662     Login