How to Identify Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes are large cranes that live over most of northern North America. If you are ever up north and see large birds, they may be Sandhill Cranes. Read on to learn how to identify Sandhill Cranes.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Learn about the habitat of the Sandhill Cranes. These birds live throughout much of Canada and the northern and western United States. They winter on the Gulf Coast and the coast of Florida, and make their home in prairies, marshes, grasslands and tundra.

2. Observe the appearance of the Sandhill Cranes. Adults are mostly gray with a white-colored chin, upper throat and cheek, and have a red patch on their forehead. They also have a long neck and legs, a bustle of feathers over their rump and long pointed wings. Look for these cranes with the square-shaped tails and dark pointed bills.

3. Remember that Sandhill Cranes are very large and tall birds that range in size from 86 to 122 cm, with a wingspan of 185 to 229 cm. They weigh between 3400 and 4900 g. Males are slightly larger than females.

4. Listen for the Sandhill Cranes' very loud and deep sounding call. It is a rattling or a trumpeting sound resembling "gar-oo-oo" that you can hear from a mile away.

5. Watch the Sandhill Cranes in flight. The birds show heavy and steady wing beats during flight. The upstrokes are rapid and jerky and the downstrokes are smooth and slower.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't confuse the Sandhill Cranes with the Great Blue Herons. The Great Blue Herons do not have a bustle of feathers over its rump.
• Female and male adults look similar and their gray color can be a stained reddish-brown.
• Juvenile Sandhill Cranes do not have a red forehead and their bodies are often a mottled brown, red and gray.

Resources

• All About Birds From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Information on Identifying Birds