Sandhill Crane is a really big bird!

By Al Lowe
Contributor

The Sandhill Crane is a big bird - really big! It may stand up to 4 feet tall, it has long, stilt-like legs, and a very long neck.
It is not very common here, but some do make their homes in Northwestern Ontario, and others migrate through. They nest away up in the Arctic, as well as out west.
You are most likely to see these birds in marshes, or in very wet swampy areas in the summer. In migration, a flock may land in open farm fields, river banks, and so on.
The Sandhill Crane has an even brownish-grey coat, with no stripes or other distinguishing marks. The front part of its head is bare of feathers and is bright red, like a chicken’s comb. It has white cheeks. The only other real crane in Canada is the Whooping Crane, which never comes anywhere near here.
While these birds are easy to see on the ground, because of their great height, they are very secretive about their nests, which are usually a big pile of vegetation and sticks, very carefully hidden among the rushes and cattails. They take great pains to come and go unseen - quite a feat for such a big bird.
Eggs are two. Then both hatch out, the chicks exhibit an extreme rivalry, so much so that one may kill the other.
One of the curious things about all cranes is their mating ritual, which consists of a dance. One pair will start off, bowing and picking up twigs. Then they jump up in the air, and all will join in. You may have 40 or 50 of these big birds doing all kinds of queer things. They will jump several feet into the air, and use their wings as parachutes when they come down again. All the while, they squawk and trumpet - an amazing thing to see and hear.
Sandhill Cranes migrate in flocks. Through Northwestern Ontario, maybe 30 to 100 or so. But in western Canada, flocks can be up to several thousand. In the fall, they do much damage to fields of grain.
In western Canada and the States, they can be hunted, especially so in Texas and other parts of the south. While numbers of cranes are still at fairly high levels, an increase in hunting pressure may become dangerous.
Sometimes, some of the old timers will tell you that there used to be ‘wild turkeys’ in this area. Well, there weren’t. The bird they remember hunting is the Sandhill Crane. In early days of settlement, cranes were shot for food, just like most other birds.
The Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis, is one of our largest, and most stately looking native birds.