Sandhill crane
A tall gray wading bird with a red forehead and a bugling call, gathering by the thousands near Great Sand Dunes and standing year-round in the Everglades.
Sandhill crane at a glance
Antigone canadensis SAND-hill krayn; Antigone canadensis is an-TIG-uh-nee kan-uh-DEN-sis
- Type
- Bird · crane
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Size
- It stands about 3 to 4 feet tall, close to the height of a kitchen counter, and its wings spread about 6 feet across, close to the height of a tall grown-up.
- Lifespan
- Around 20 years in the wild, and some live longer.
- Conservation
- Least concern
Eats grains, seeds, roots, insects, snails, frogs
A sandhill crane walks slowly through fields and wetlands, poking its long beak into the ground and water to pull up grains, roots, bugs, and small animals.
Should you worry?
A sandhill crane is big but shy and will usually walk away from people. It can jab with its long, sharp beak if it feels cornered or if someone has been feeding it, so keep your distance, never feed one, and give dancing or nesting cranes plenty of room.
You hear a sandhill crane before you see it. The call is a rolling bugle that carries more than a mile across open ground, and it comes from a windpipe so long it coils up inside the bird’s chest like a trumpet folded to fit. Then the bird itself appears: three to four feet tall, close to the height of a kitchen counter, gray all over with a bare red patch on its forehead, wading slow through a field on stilt legs.
It eats by walking and probing. A crane pokes its long beak into soft ground and shallow water and pulls up grains, seeds, roots, insects, snails, and frogs, working a wet meadow the way you might comb a beach. In the Everglades a resident population stands in the marshes year-round, while farther west the migrating birds are on the move. Every spring and fall more than 20,000 of them stop in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, near Great Sand Dunes, to rest and feed before the next leg.
Cranes also dance. They bow to each other, leap straight up with their wings out, and fling grass and sticks into the air. Part of it is finding a mate, and part of it seems to be for no reason at all. They are shy and will usually walk away from a person, but a cornered or a fed crane can jab hard with that long beak, so keep your distance, never feed one, and give a dancing pair plenty of room.
Did you know?
- A crane's trumpeting call carries more than a mile. The sound comes from a windpipe so long it coils up inside the bird's chest, like a trumpet folded to fit.
- Every spring and fall, more than 20,000 sandhill cranes stop in Colorado's San Luis Valley near Great Sand Dunes to rest and eat before the next leg of their journey.
- Sandhill cranes dance. They bow, leap into the air, and toss grass and sticks, partly to find a mate and partly, it seems, just because.
Common questions
Are sandhill cranes dangerous to kids?
Usually not. They are shy and walk away from people. But a cornered or fed crane can jab with its sharp beak, so keep your distance and never feed one.
Why are sandhill cranes so loud?
Their windpipe is very long and coiled inside the chest, so their bugling call carries more than a mile.
Where can I see thousands of sandhill cranes?
Near Great Sand Dunes in Colorado's San Luis Valley. More than 20,000 stop there in early spring and again in fall.
What do sandhill cranes eat?
Grains, seeds, and roots, plus insects, snails, and frogs. They probe the ground and shallow water with their long beaks.