Creature Feature: Bakasana
With fall bird migration well underway, it seems only fitting for this month’s Creature Feature to be about a bird. A big bird. A big bird not to be confused with the big bird named Big Bird found on 123 Sesame Street. How big, you may ask? About as big as what the title of this article is hinting towards!
As a part of the Gruiformes family of birds, sandhill cranes stand out due to their size and features. Found throughout much of North America and even parts of Northeast Siberia, these tall birds are fairly easy to identify. They have a bright red patch of visible skin at the crown of their head, and their plumage (the entire set of feathers from a bird) can vary from gray to rust-like. The rust color present on some cranes is due to the action of rubbing mud on their feathers in order to straighten or clean them. If the mud comes from a source that is rich in iron, the mud on the feathers will in turn appear like rust.
Sandhill may seem like a peculiar name, but there is a reasoning behind it! This species of crane gets its name from one of the several habitats that it frequents or visits. In this case, it is a region in the state of Nebraska called the Sandhills: a prairie with mixed grasses on top of sand dunes that are sprinkled with ponds, lakes, and rivers. Prior to receiving their common name, Anishinaabe groups and cultures would refer to the bird as ajijaak. In habitats found within the Sandhills, the cranes rely on an omnivorous diet. One study by Reinecke and Krapu (1986) found that cranes during their spring migration in Nebraska consumed either corn or invertebrates, depending on the habitat that they landed in.
Family of four sandhill cranes feeding along the Rogue River tributary at the Johnson Nature Center.
The nesting season for a sandhill crane depends on if the crane is in a location where it needs to migrate or not. In places where migration is not necessary, the cranes have a wider window for laying eggs, from winter to summer. In places where they need to migrate, the time for nesting becomes smaller, usually around spring. Baker et al. (1995) surveyed sandhill crane nesting sites in Michigan’s Seney National WIldlife Refuge, which revealed that the cranes preferred to nest at seasonally flooded wetlands while avoiding upland forests. Despite being a social bird, sandhill cranes will stay just as pairs or a family for most of the year. Once the migration season kicks into high gear, more crane families will come together. In some locations, this number will grow to the thousands! The call that a sandhill crane makes during communication is described as a rolling trumpet-like sound. For humans, this would be similar to rolling your “r”s. A skill that took me too long a time to figure out how to learn and do.
Spotting scope point of view of sandhill cranes foraging and preparing to turn in for the night before continuing their migration.
Some migratory birds, such as the crane, may begin its migration in one direction but ultimately end up in a far away place that it did not intend to arrive at. In scenarios such as these, we label these birds as a vagrant. This is a term used in birding to describe a bird that has strayed away from its typical migratory route. Over the past several decades, reports of vagrant sandhill cranes have been recorded along the Atlantic coast, Europe, and south Asia, all of which are regions that this species of crane shouldn’t normally be present in.
A flock of sandhill cranes preparing to stop for the night at the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, Indiana.
For those interested in viewing countless cranes arriving at a migration stopover, check out the video below recorded by yours truly!
Click here to learn more about sandhill cranes.
References and Further Readings
Baker, B. W., Cade, B. S., Mangus, W. L., & McMillen, J. L. (1995). Spatial Analysis of Sandhill Crane Nesting Habitat. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 59(4), 752–758.
Reinecke, K. J., & Krapu, G. L. (1986). Feeding Ecology of Sandhill Cranes during Spring Migration in Nebraska. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 50(1), 71–79.
Submitted by Zach Mork, Naturalist, October 2022