Proper Name Greater Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis).

Average Size Height: 4 to 5 feet. Wing Span: 6 to 7 feet. Weight: Male, 12 pounds; Female 9 1/2 pounds. The Greater Sandhill Crane is Michigan's tallest bird.

Color Young: brownish and lacking red forehead. Adult: after summer molt, grey feather and red forehead always present.

Note: preening with plants and mud from iron rich waters causes a reddish brown staining of feathers seen most of year.

Similar Looking Bird Great Blue Heron: herons fly with heads tucked back on their shoulders in an “S” Cranes fly with necks extended and have rapid upward wing beats. Cranes always stand on the ground, never in trees.

Voice Trumpeting “garoo-a-a-a” can be heard a mile or more away depending on wind. HEAR CALLS

Food Wide variety of plants and animals: snails, crayfish, worms, mice. birds. frogs, snakes, insects, acorns, roots, seeds, fruits, occasionally fish, and very fond of waste grains following the harvesting of corn, wheat, barley. etc.

Noteworthy Behavior Dancing: consists of bowing and jumping, into the air. Functions in courtship, sexual synchronization for mating, and release of aggressive energies.

Population Trends 1931 survey of S. Michigan: 17 nesting pairs. 1986-87 survey: 630 nesting pairs in the Lower Peninsula, 175 pairs in the Upper Peninsula, over 200 pairs in Jackson County, and over 8,000 individuals state wide.

Wintering Grounds Southern Georgia and northern Florida

Spring Return Early March, sometimes late February

Age at First Nesting Three years

Nesting Site Sandhills nest typically in edges and surrounding uplands of shallow marshes, often in cattails.

Nesting Territory Usually 20 to 200 acres

Nest Nests are 2-3 feet in diameter, 3-5 inches above water level. They are made of vegetation, cattails are common, pulled from nearby the nest site.

Eggs Normally 2 eggs are laid, about 4" x 2 1/2" in size. (About twice the size of a jumbo chicken egg.)

Start of Incubation Incubation begins in early April. Both sexes share incubation.

Incubation Period Approximately 30 days

Hatching Time Typically in early May

Name of Young The chicks are known as colts in recognition of their well developed legs. They can leave the nest and run within a day of hatching.

First Flight About 10 weeks after hatching

Best Season and Time to View Cranes September to early November, late October is best. Cranes gather each evening in shallow, secluded marshes during migration called staging areas. In the early morning cranes leave their staging areas to feed in nearby fields. In the mid-afternoon (3-5 p.m.) the cranes start returning to spend the night in the safety of the marsh. Mornings and early afternoons spent driving roads within five miles of the sanctuaries can sometimes be rewarded with finding large flocks of cranes feeding in farm fields.

Where to See Cranes in Southern Michigan Baker Sanctuary, Calhoun County and Haehnle Sanctuary, Jackson County

More Crane Information

Sandhill Crane Slide Show by Grand Rapids Press

Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary

Cornell Lab of Ornithology > Birds of North America > Sandhill Crane

International Crane Foundation > Saving Cranes > Sandhill Crane

National Geographic Animals > Birds > Sandhill Crane

Wickipedia > Sandhill Crane