Sandhill cranes make grand entrance

Sandhill cranes are wildness made palpable.

By Jim Williams, Special to the Star Tribune

Last update: October 9, 2007 - 4:09 PM

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For recordings of bird songs, call 612-673-9050, and when prompted press the following four-digit numbers: 5081 sandhill crane 5082 whooping crane Recordings from the Library of Natural Sounds, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Try the lab's website: www.birds.cornell.edu.

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Sandhill cranes are wildness made palpable.

They have a voice -- a loud, trumpeting call -- that predates man by millions of years. That call stopped me cold in the middle of a northwestern Minnesota hayfield.

The birds appeared over a distant line of trees, a flock of perhaps two dozen cranes circling, their wings flared for a slow descent, legs extended for touchdown.

This was my first sighting of sandhills, which stand 4 feet tall with wingspans of more than 6 feet. Their voice, their size, their grace in the air make them impressive. I didn't move. I just watched.

Since that day, I look and listen for sandhills and count seeing a flock of these massive, majestic birds as one of the blessings of fall.

SEE THEM NOW Cranes are gathering now at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area near Wyoming, just north of the metro area. Another place to look is Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge west of Zimmerman.

Crex Meadows just north of Grantsburg, Wis., harbors hundreds, maybe thousands, of sandhills. And in northwestern Minnesota, near Rothsay, more cranes are fattening for their fall flight.

FOOD Grain scraps help fuel their migration, but the birds are omnivorous, eating just about anything they find -- seeds, marsh vegetation, berries, bugs, birds, snakes and snails.

RANGE Sandhill cranes nest from southern Michigan northwest through Minnesota into much of Canada and central Alaska, all the way north to Arctic islands. They winter through much of Texas and southern New Mexico south into Mexico. A small portion of the population chooses Florida as its winter home.

MIGRATION Sandhill cranes gather in large flocks before fall migration. The flocks -- sometimes made up of thousands of birds -- contain both adults and young cranes hatched this spring. They migrate south in late October, and head north beginning in March.

In spring, they congregate along the Platte River in Nebraska -- a sight birders consider one of the best spectacles on the continent. Hundreds of birders head for Grand Island, Neb., and the surrounding area for crane-watching from mid-February to mid-April.

FOR MORE INFO Go to www.mbr- pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i2060id.html, www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Sandhill_Crane.html, www.ngpc.state.ne.us/wildlife/guides/migration/sandhill.asp. or www.rowesanctuary.org/links.htm

JIM WILLIAMS

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