Species

Sandhill crane

Antigone canadensis

A tall grey crane whose rattling, trumpeting calls announce the great flocks passing over Georgia each autumn and spring.

Photo Frank Schulenburg (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

At a glance

Size: About 1 to 1.2 m tall; wingspan about 1.7 to 2.1 m
Weight: About 3 to 5 kg
Habitat: Wet prairies, fields, marshes and farmland
Diet: Grain, roots, tubers, insects, snails and small animals
In Georgia: A common migrant; winters in the south, especially in and around the Okefenokee
Voice: A loud, rolling, trumpeting "garoo-oo-oo", audible from far away
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Tall, grey body; long neck and legs; bright red crown; white cheeks; bustle of feathers over the tail
Told apart from: Great blue heron, which flies with its neck folded and has no red crown
Told apart from: Whooping crane, a very rare visitor, which is white with black wingtips
Where to look: High, rattling flocks overhead in November and February; fields and wet prairies in the south

Behaviour

Sandhill cranes migrate in large flocks, riding thermals high overhead. Pairs stay together for years and perform leaping, wing-flapping dances.

A resident, non-migratory population, the Florida sandhill crane, nests in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Why they matter

The sandhill is one of the oldest bird species known from fossils; bones very like its own are more than two million years old. Their migration over Georgia is one of the great natural sights of the state, and the Okefenokee's resident cranes depend on the swamp's open prairies.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A mound of plants in shallow water or marsh
Eggs — Usually two
Incubation — About 29 to 32 days
Colts — Chicks leave the nest within a day and follow their parents
Flight — At about two to two-and-a-half months
Family — Young stay with parents for nearly a year
Lifespan — Often twenty years or more

Living around people

Collisions with power lines kill many cranes during migration.
Cranes in fields are feeding and resting; they need space and quiet.

Misconceptions

Any big grey bird is a heron. Sandhill cranes fly with their necks outstretched, while herons fold theirs.
They are whooping cranes. Whooping cranes are white and very rare.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering in south Georgia	Migration north begins	Flocks passing north	Resident birds nesting in the Okefenokee	Chicks with parents	Chicks	Young growing	Young flying	Resident families	Migrants start arriving	Peak migration south	Wintering

Where it lives

Recorded in 55 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

Mexico

If you found one

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