Sandhill Crane

Appearance:

Length: 47.2in
Weight: 119.9-172.8 oz
Wingspan: 6.5-7ft

Sandhill Cranes winter in the southern U.S. and northern Mexico, roosting on shallow lakes or rivers at night and spending the day in irrigated croplands, pastures, grasslands, or wetlands. Large numbers can be found at Wheeler NWR during the winter months with peak numbers reached during early January.

Habitat:

Sandhill Cranes winter in the southern U.S. and northern Mexico, roosting on shallow lakes or rivers at night and spending the day in irrigated croplands, pastures, grasslands, or wetlands. Large numbers can be found at Wheeler NWR during the winter months with peak numbers reached during early January.

Behavior:

During migration and winter, the family units group together with other families and nonbreeders, forming loose roosting and feeding flocks, in some places numbering in the tens of thousands. Eggs, nestlings, and injured or sick adults may be hunted by foxes, raccoons, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, crows, ravens, eagles, and owls. Cranes attack aerial predators by leaping into the air and kicking their feet forward. They threaten terrestrial predators by spreading their wings and hissing, eventually resorting to kicking.