Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane
Adult and chick
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Gruidae
Genus:	Grus
Species:	G. canadensis
Binomial name
Grus canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
subspecies
Grus canadensis canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) Grus canadensis pratensis (F. A. A. Meyer, 1794) Grus canadensis nesiotes Bangs & Zappey, 1905 Grus canadensis tabida (J. L. Peters, 1925) Grus canadensis rowani (disputed) Walkinshaw, 1965 Grus canadensis pulla Aldrich, 1972 and see text
Synonyms
Ardea canadensis Linnaeus, 1758 Grus minor Grus proavus and see text

The Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest. This is the most important stopover area for the Lesser Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis canadensis), with up to 450,000 of these birds migrating through annually.

Description

Florida Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis pratensis; Adult (behind) and juvenile

Adults are gray overall; during breeding, the plumage is usually much worn and stained, particularly in the migratory populations, and looks nearly ochre. The average weight of the larger male is 4.57 kg (10.1 lb), while the average weight of females is 4.02 kg (8.9 lb), with a range of 2.7 to 6.7 kg (6.0 to 15 lb) across the subspecies.^[1][2] The Sandhill Crane has a red forehead, white cheeks and a long dark pointed bill. Its long dark legs trail behind in flight, and the long neck is kept straight in flight. Immature birds have reddish brown upperparts and gray underparts.^[3][4] The sexes look alike. Size varies among the different subspecies. This crane frequently gives a loud trumpeting call that suggests a French-style "r" rolled in the throat, and they can be heard from a long distance.

Mated pairs of cranes engage in "unison calling." The cranes stand close together, calling in a synchronized and complex duet. The female makes two calls for every single call of the male.

The only other large grayish-bodied bird of North America is the Great Blue Heron. This heron is of similar dimensions to the Sandhill Crane and is sometimes mistakenly called a crane, even though it is very different in plumage details and build. Like other herons, it flies with its neck tucked toward the body.

The sandhill crane's large wingspan, typically 1.65 to 2.1 m (5.4 to 6.9 ft), makes this a very skilled soaring bird similar in style to hawks and eagles. Utilizing thermals to obtain lift, they can stay aloft for many hours, requiring only occasional flapping of their wings and consequently expending little energy. With migratory flocks containing hundreds of birds, they can create clear outlines of the normally invisible rising columns of air (thermals) that they ride.

The Sandhill Crane flies south for the winter. In their wintering areas they form flocks of over 10,000 birds. One place to observe this is at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, 100 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. There is an annual Sandhill Crane Festival in November.

Fossil record

The Sandhill Crane has one of the longest fossil histories of any extant bird.^[5] A 10-million-year-old crane fossil from Nebraska is often cited as being of this species,^[6] but this is more likely from a prehistoric relative or the direct ancestor of the Sandhill Crane and may not belong in the genus Grus. The oldest unequivocal Sandhill Crane fossil is "just" 2.5 million years old,^[7] over one and a half times older than the earliest remains of most living species of birds, which are primarily found from after the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary some 1.8 million years ago. As these ancient Sandhill Cranes varied as much in size as the present-day birds, even those Pliocene fossils were sometimes described as new species.^[8] Grus haydeni on the other hand may or may not have been a prehistoric relative of the living species, or it may actually comprise material of the Sandhill Crane and its ancestor.^[9]

Subspecies and evolution

In British Columbia, Canada

There is considerable variation in size (much of which is clinal) and in migratory habits. A female of G. c. canadensis averages 7.4 lbs (3.46  kg), 37 in (94 cm) in length and has a wingspan of 5.3 ft (1.6 m). A male of G. c. tabida averages 11 lbs (5 kg), 47 in (119 cm) in length and has a wingspan of 7 ft (2.12 m). The southern subspecies (along with G. c. rowani) are intermediate, roughly according to Bergmann's Rule.

Three subspecies are resident; pulla of the Gulf Coast of the U.S., pratensis of Florida and Georgia and nesiotes of Cuba.^[10] The northern populations exist as fragmented remains in the contiguous U.S. and a large and contiguous population from Canada to Beringia. These migrate to the southwestern United States and Mexico. This crane is a rare vagrant to China, South Korea and Japan and a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

Six subspecies have been recognized in recent times:

• Lesser Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis canadensis
• Cuban Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis nesiotes – ESA: Endangered
• Florida Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis pratensis – ESA: Endangered
• Mississippi Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis pulla – ESA: Endangered
• Canadian Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis rowani
• Greater Sandhill Crane, Grus canadensis tabida

The Canadian Sandhill Crane is morphologically not reliably distinct and was never unequivocally accepted as valid subspecies.^[11] The other can be somewhat more reliably distinguished in hand by measurements and plumage details, apart from the size differences already mentioned. Unequivocal identification often requires location information, which is often impossible in migrating birds.

Lesser Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis canadensis)
George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Ladner, British Columbia

Juvenile Florida Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis pratensis) in the wild

Analysis of control region mtDNA haplotype data shows 2 major lineages, one including the Lesser Sandhill Crane or Little Brown Crane, the Arctic and the subarctic migratory population. The other lineages can be divided into a migratory and some indistinct clusters which can be matched to the resident subspecies. The Lesser and Greater Sandhill Cranes are quite distinct, their divergence dating roughly to some time during the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene, some 2.3–1.2 million years ago (mya). It seems as if glaciation fragmented off a founder population of the Lesser Sandhill Crane, because during each major ice age its present breeding range was frozen year-round. Still, Sandhill Cranes are amply documented from fossil and subfossil remains right to the modern era.^[12] Conceivably, they might be considered distinct species already, a monotypic G. canadensis and the Greater Sandhill Crane G. pratensis, which would include the other populations.^[10]

It appears as if the scant differences between southern Canadian and western U.S. populations result from genetic drift due to the recent reduction in population and range fragmentation; until the early 20th century the southern migratory birds occupied a much larger and continuous range. Thus, the subspecies rowani may well be abandoned.^[10]

The two southern U.S. resident populations are somewhat more distinct, while the Cuban population has been comparatively little studied but appears to have been established on the island for a long time. These and the migratory Greater Sandhill Crane proper form a group of lineages that diverged much more recently from a range in the southern U.S. and maybe northern Mexico, where they would have been resident. The southern migratory population would then represent a later re-expansion which (re-)evolved their migratory habits independent from the northernmost birds, the geographically separated populations expanding rapidly in numbers when more habitat was available as the last ice age ended.^[10]

Status and conservation

Flying at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, USA

A huge flock at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Though the Sandhill Crane is not considered threatened as a species, the three southernmost subspecies are quite rare. While the migratory birds could at least choose secure breeding habitat, the resident populations could not, and many subpopulations were destroyed by hunting or habitat change. However, initially the Greater Sandhill crane proper suffered most from persecution; by 1940 probably fewer than 1,000 birds remained. They have since increased greatly again, though with nearly 100,000 individuals they are still less plentiful than the Lesser Sandhill Crane, which numbers over 400,000 individuals, making the species the most plentiful crane alive today.^[13]

The Florida Sandhill Crane is far less common, with some 5,000 individuals remaining. They are most threatened by habitat destruction and probably depend on human management in the long run. In Florida, it is protected, and if killed, carries a very high monetary penalty. This subspecies is under protection of state and federal law at this time. Since the loss of habitat is a somewhat controllable cause of a declining population, habitat preservation is a valuable management measure. The current outlook for the Florida sandhill crane, if it can be maintained on the protected habitats, is good. Transplanting wild birds, as well as introducing captive-reared birds into suitable areas where crane numbers are low, appears to be a viable technique in the management of this threatened species. It is hoped that these management strategies, plus continued ecological research, will prevent the Florida sandhill crane from reaching a more critical status.^[14]

The Mississippi Sandhill Crane has most drastically declined in range; it used to occur along most of the northern Gulf of Mexico coast and its range was at one time nearly parapatric with that of its eastern neighbor (compare the Mottled Duck); today only 25 breeding pairs exist in an intensively managed population, but this seems at least stable in recent times. Some 300 Cuban Sandhill Cranes remain; this is the least-known of the populations.^[13]

The Mississippi Sandhill Crane has become the first bird to have a young hatched where an egg was fertilized by a sperm that was previously thawed out from a cryogenic state. This occurred at the Audubon Institute as part of this subspecies' Endangered Species Recovery Plan.

Sandhill Cranes have been used as foster parents for Whooping Crane eggs and young in reintroduction schemes for that species. This project failed as these foster-raised Whooping Cranes imprinted on their foster parents and later did not recognize other Whooping Cranes as their conspecifics – attempting instead, unsuccessfully, to pair with Sandhill Cranes.

Vagrancy

Sandhill Crane has reached Europe as a vagrant on a number of occasions. The first British record was on Fair Isle in April 1981,^[15] and the second was in Shetland in 1991.^[16]

See also

• Cranes in Britain
• Grulla National Wildlife Refuge
• Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge

Footnotes

1. ^ Crane race sizes (2011).
2. ^ CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), ISBN 978-0849342585.
3. ^ Allaboutbirds.org
4. ^ http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=132 Seattleaudubon.org
5. ^ Quantic & Hafen (2003): p.84
6. ^ E.g. The Nature Conservancy: Sandhill Crane. Retrieved 2008-JAN-16.
7. ^ Volz (2003)
8. ^ Miller (1944)
9. ^ Miller & Sibley (1942), Brodkorb (1967)
10. ^ ^{a b c d} Rhymer et al. (2001)
11. ^ Tacha et al. (1992)
12. ^ Brodkorb (1967): pp152-153
13. ^ ^{a b} Archibald & Meine (1996), Rhymer et al. (2001)
14. ^ Stys (1994).
15. ^ Riddiford, Nick (1983) Sandhill Crane: new to Britain British Birds 76(3):105-109
16. ^ Ellis, Pete (1991) The Sandhill Crane in Shetland Birding World 4(9): 322-323

References

• Archibald, George W. & Meine, Curt (1996): 7. Sandhill Crane. In: Del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds.): Handbook of Birds of the World (Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks): 85, plate 5. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-20-2
• BirdLife International (2004). Grus canadensis. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Brodkorb, Pierce (1967): Catalogue of Fossil Birds: Part 3 (Ralliformes, Ichthyornithiformes, Charadriiformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 11(3): 99-220. PDF or JPEG fulltext
• Meine, Curt D. & Archibald, George W. (eds.) (1996): Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis). In: The cranes: - Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, U.K.
• Miller, Alden H. & Sibley, Charles Gald (1942): A New Species of Crane from the Pliocene of California. Condor 44(3): 126-127. DjVu fulltext PDF fulltext
• Miller, Loye H. (1944): Some Pliocene birds from Oregon and Idaho. Condor 46(1): 25-32. doi:10.2307/1364248 DjVu fulltext PDF fulltext
• Quantic, Diane Dufva; Hafen, P. Jane (2003): A Great Plains Reader. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803238029
• Rhymer, Judith M.; Fain, Matthew G.; Austin, Jane E.; Johnson, Douglas H. & Krajewski, Carey (2001): Mitochondrial phylogeography, subspecific taxonomy, and conservation genetics of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis; Aves: Gruidae). Conservation Genetics 2(3): 203–218. doi:10.1023/A:1012203532300 PDF fulltext
• Stys, B. (1994): Ecology and habitat protection needs of Florida sandhill cranes on areas proposed for land conversion activities. Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. Nongame Wildlife Program Technical Report No. 14. Tallahassee, FL. 27pp.
• Tacha, T. C.; Nesbitt, S. A.; Vohs, P. A. (1992): Sandhill Crane. In: Poole, A. & Gill, F. (eds.): The Birds of North America 31: 1-24. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA & American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. Online version. doi:10.2173/bna.31 (requires subscription) HTML introduction
• Volz, Becky Lauren (2003): The Biogeography of the Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis). Version of 2003-DEC-31. Retrieved 2008-JAN-16.
• Stys, B. 1994. Ecology and habitat protection needs of Florida sandhill cranes on areas proposed for land conversion activities. Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. Nongame Wildlife Program Technical Report No. 14. Tallahassee, FL. 27pp.

External links

• International Crane Foundation's Sandhill Crane page
• Audio file of cranes "unison calling"
• Sandhill Crane Bird Sound
• Bird of the Week: Sandhill Crane - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Sandhill Crane Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Sandhill Crane Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• The Nature Conservancy's Species Profile: Sandhill Crane
• National Audubon Society, Rowe Sanctuary, Nebraska
• Sandhill Crane Migration on Nebraska Platte River - Viewing Sites Info & Maps, Photos + Video
• Alamosa/Monte Vista/Baca National Wildlife Refuge Complex
• Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge
• Sandhill Crane videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Stamps (for Canada, Cuba) with RangeMap
• Sandhill cranes breeding and biology in Alaska
• Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) from Paul Johnsgard, Cranes of the World (1983)
• Sandhill cranes in British Columbia, Canada from Thomas Hentrich, www.MomentsInRGB.com