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The Sandhill Crane can live up to 20 years, and is capable of killing a human being by clawing the person with its long and sharp claws. To my knowledge the sandhill crane is one of the biggest birds out of two in Alaska; the second would be the tundra swan which is mostly white with black legs and yellow under the eyes. What I will be talking about is how the Sandhill Crane looks, how long its wing span is, and the sounds it makes. Additionally, I’ll talk about what kind of terrain it lives on, what kind of places it would prefer, and its nesting area. Next, I will also talk about the breeding behavior, nesting and about the young aging to adult cranes. Then, I’ll go on to what the sandhill crane eats and what eats the sandhill crane. Finally, last but not least, I’ll talk about how the natives of Alaska use the parts of the crane.
 * Sandhill Crane (Grus Canadensis)**

the sandhill crane description


 * The sandhill crane male weight is 4.57 kg (10.1 lbs) and the female weight is 4.02 kg (8.9 lbs).
 * Its wingspan is 41.8-60 cm (16.5-24in), the culmen (beak) 6.9—16cm (2.7-6.3in) long, and the tarsus (skeleton) 15.5-26.6cm, body length 44 cm (112in).
 * The sandhill cranes forehead is red; it has white cheeks, a grey body, and tufted feathers over its rump, it also has a long pointed bill, long legs that trail behind in flight, and a long neck which is kept straight in flight.
 * The Sandhill Crane loud trumpeting call suggests a French-style “r” rolled in the throat and can be heard for many miles. Mated pairs of cranes engage in unison calling.
 * The cranes stand close together calling in synchronizing and complex duets, and the female makes two of every one of the male calls.
 * Using thermals to take off, they can glide for many hours, using only once in a while flapping of their wings and using very little energy. With migratory flocks with hundreds of birds, they can create clear outlines of the usually invisible rising columns of air thermals that they ride.
 * The sandhill crane can be found in northern and south eastern North America, and the Soviet Union.

the sandhill cranes habitat


 * The sandhill crane breeds in open marshes or bogs and in wet grasslands, and meadows.
 * The crane feeds in marshes and in grain fields.

the sandhilll cranes range


 * The sandhill crane breeds in extreme northeastern Siberia and in North America from Alaska to Baffin Island, south to northeastern Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
 * Additional nonmigratory populations exist in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Cuba, and the Isle of Pines.
 * The migratory races winter from California and Baja California eastward to New Mexico, Texas, and Florida.
 * The breeding range was for merely much more expansive in the United States extending south to Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio.
 * There are six recognized subspecies of Sandhill Cranes.
 * Of these, half are migratory.
 * The migratory cranes travel long distances, using routes learned from adults.
 * During this migration they congregate at major stopover spots.
 * The subspecies of Sandhill Crane seen in Washington are migratory
 * . Most of the cranes that breed in Washington are members of the Central Valley population of the Greater Sandhill Crane subspecies, and they winter in the Central Valley of California.
 * Members of the other two migratory subspecies, Lesser Sandhill Crane and Canadian Sandhill Crane, breed to our north and only migrate through Washington.
 * Breeding Sandhill Cranes arrive at their nesting grounds in early March and leave for California between late September and mid-October.

the sandhilll cranes life cycle/food habits


 * In the early spring, as sandhill cranes are migrating to their breeding grounds, single Cranes will start pairing up.
 * The Sandhill Crane pair does unison calling to create a bond.
 * The sandhill crane can live up to 20 years. Sandhill Cranes mate for life.
 * When they form a pair bond, it can last for years until a Crane dies.
 * After a mate passes away, the surviving crane will seek out a new mate.
 * The nest would be a large mound of vegetation in the water, floating or attached to vegetation.
 * The eggs are pale brownish marked with dark brown, covered with down and able to walk soon after the hatching.
 * The baby crane has the ability to feed themselves within a day.
 * Although, with over 500,000 birds, the Sandhill Crane is the most abundant crane around the world, it is an endangered species in Washington.
 * Its low numbers in the state, and low reproduction rate, and the loss of suitable crane habitat put it at risk of extinction in the state.
 * As an added risk, a large percentage of its wintering habitat is privately owned and subjected to alteration without concern for endangered species.
 * The small populations of the Sandhill Cranes that breed in Washington are members of the Greater Sandhill Crane subspecies, which numbers only 70-80,000 birds throughout its entire home.
 * Sandhill Cranes usually breed in wetlands on both sides of the Cascade Crest but now breed in only two or three places in eastern Washington.
 * Sandhill Cranes are extremely wary, requiring isolated sites with good cover during the nesting.
 * When threatened by pedestrians, construction, low-flying aircraft, vehicles, or predators, they desert their nests.
 * For Sandhill Cranes to survive in Washington, breeding, migration, and wintering habitats all need to be protected and provided.
 * It is bad that the loss of wetlands in Sandhill Crane nesting habitat is stopped, creation of additional habitat should be considered. Wetlands within two miles of agricultural areas providing grain are ideal roosting areas.
 * The sandhill crane is an omnivore.
 * The Crane mostly eats grains and seeds, some insects, other invertebrates and small vertebrates.
 * The sandhill crane is talked about in stories in the Eskimo world.
 * One story is about a crane losing its sight and getting blue berries for new eyes so it could see again, and that’s how the crane got its blue eyes.

my conclusion

What I learned from this report was pretty amazing because the crane is able to live up to about 20 years. To me that is a pretty long time because I’m only 17. I might be going to fish camp this year which I hope I’m not because I don’t want to be here that long, anyway let’s just say that I might be going to fish camp and I hope to see the crane and think about my research and all that I have learned.





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