Scientific Name: Grus canadensis
Habitat: mudland flats around reservoirs, moist meadows, agricultural areas.* Birds that are breeding can be found in parks with grassy hummoks and watercourses, beaver and natural ponds lined with aspens or willows.* Sandhill cranes nest in wetlands and shallow marshes.*
Diet: roots, starchy swellings found on roots of tubers, seeds, small mammals and reptiles, other bird eggs, earthworms, insects, clams, and crayfish (in the spring, summer, and fall)*; these birds feed in dry fields in the winter and return to water at night.*
Coloration: a naked red forehead, brown-gray feathers, a white chin, cheek, and upper throat (adults)*; young sandhill cranes are chocolate brown with a little rust color and have a feathered head.*
Mating: Two eggs are laid on a huge pile of marsh plants that have been yanked up by their roots (usually).* The nest can be 5-6 feet across and may take as long as 7 days to build.* Incubation is shared by both the male and female cranes, and the chicks hatch 2-3 days apart.* The older of the two is aggressive towards the younger, and the parents walk apart, each followed by one chick to avoid domestic violence (crane style).* At two and a half years, the chicks will have full adult plumage.*
Fun Facts: Adult cranes weigh8-10 pounds and are 34-38 inches in length.* Just like Canada geese, Sandhill cranes fly in a V formation during their migration*, part of which takes them through the San Luis Valley (more specifically Monte Vista, which is 20 min. west of Alamosa on Highway 160). Every year in Monte Vista, there is a Crane Festival for the Sandhill cranes and the Whooping cranes fall migration through the SLV.
Source:
*http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/Profiles/Birds/SandhillCrane.htm
Habitat: mudland flats around reservoirs, moist meadows, agricultural areas.* Birds that are breeding can be found in parks with grassy hummoks and watercourses, beaver and natural ponds lined with aspens or willows.* Sandhill cranes nest in wetlands and shallow marshes.*
Diet: roots, starchy swellings found on roots of tubers, seeds, small mammals and reptiles, other bird eggs, earthworms, insects, clams, and crayfish (in the spring, summer, and fall)*; these birds feed in dry fields in the winter and return to water at night.*
Coloration: a naked red forehead, brown-gray feathers, a white chin, cheek, and upper throat (adults)*; young sandhill cranes are chocolate brown with a little rust color and have a feathered head.*
Mating: Two eggs are laid on a huge pile of marsh plants that have been yanked up by their roots (usually).* The nest can be 5-6 feet across and may take as long as 7 days to build.* Incubation is shared by both the male and female cranes, and the chicks hatch 2-3 days apart.* The older of the two is aggressive towards the younger, and the parents walk apart, each followed by one chick to avoid domestic violence (crane style).* At two and a half years, the chicks will have full adult plumage.*
Fun Facts: Adult cranes weigh8-10 pounds and are 34-38 inches in length.* Just like Canada geese, Sandhill cranes fly in a V formation during their migration*, part of which takes them through the San Luis Valley (more specifically Monte Vista, which is 20 min. west of Alamosa on Highway 160). Every year in Monte Vista, there is a Crane Festival for the Sandhill cranes and the Whooping cranes fall migration through the SLV.
Source:
*http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/Profiles/Birds/SandhillCrane.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment