Animal
Sandhill crane
The sandhill crane is a tall gray bird with a red patch on its head. It dances by jumping and spreading its wings. Many fly a long way each spring and fall.
The sandhill crane is a tall gray bird of North America with long legs, a long neck and a red patch on its forehead. Pairs dance by leaping and spreading their wings, and many sandhill cranes travel long distances between their nesting marshes and their winter homes. In early spring, huge crowds gather on the Platte River in Nebraska.
Grus canadensis (also placed in the genus Antigone) breeds across northern North America and in eastern Siberia, with non-migratory populations in Florida, Mississippi and Cuba. BirdLife International assessed it as Least Concern for the IUCN Red List (assessed 2020, published 2021), with an increasing population of about 450,000 to 550,000 mature birds; two localized subspecies, in Mississippi and Cuba, are listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act.
Photo: Paul Danese, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the sandhill crane
The sandhill crane is a tall gray bird. It has long legs and a long neck.
It has a red patch on its head.
The sandhill crane is a tall bird with long legs, a long neck and a long bill. Adults are gray with a red patch on the forehead. Their gray feathers are sometimes stained brown, and young cranes have brownish heads.
A sandhill crane is about 1 to 1.2 meters long, and its wings spread about 2 meters. Males and females look alike, but males are a little bigger.
Audubon's guide (after Kaufman 1996) gives a length of 1 to 1.2 meters, a wingspan of about 2 meters and a weight of 7 pounds 5 ounces (about 3.3 kilograms); Wikidata gives a wingspan of 2.1 meters. The sexes look alike, the male slightly larger. Adults are all gray with a red patch on the head, sometimes with brown staining on the body feathers; juveniles have a brownish head (Audubon), or cinnamon-brown feathers (International Crane Foundation). Compared with a great blue heron, it has a shorter bill and a bushy tuft of feathers over the rump.
The genus is debated: BirdLife International and the IUCN use Grus canadensis (2021), after it had been moved to Antigone in 2014. The IUCN recognizes six subspecies, the International Crane Foundation five (it merges the Canadian rowani into the greater sandhill crane).
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 1 to 1.2 m
- Wingspan
- 2 m
Marshes, prairies and tundra
Sandhill cranes live in North America.
They nest in marshes. In winter, many fly south.
Sandhill cranes nest in Canada and the northern United States, and some nest across the Bering Strait in Siberia. They usually nest around marshes or bogs, in open grassland or surrounded by forest. The farthest north nest on marshy tundra.
Cranes that migrate spend the winter in the southern United States and northern Mexico, often on open prairie, farm fields and river valleys. In Florida, Mississippi and Cuba, sandhill cranes stay in the same place all year.
The IUCN lists the species as resident in Canada, the United States and Cuba, breeding in Eastern Asian Russia and non-breeding in Mexico; Japan and South Korea are listed with uncertain seasonality. The International Crane Foundation describes the two migratory subspecies (lesser and greater) breeding across the northern US, Canada and eastern Siberia and wintering in the southern US and northern Mexico, and three non-migratory subspecies (Florida, Mississippi and Cuban) with restricted ranges.
Audubon describes nesting around marshes and bogs in open grassland or forest, on marshy tundra in the far north, and, in migration and winter, open prairie, farm fields and river valleys. Audubon's text (after Kaufman 1996) says that in the decades before then the species had greatly expanded its breeding range and numbers in the upper Midwest, a population that mostly migrates south-east toward Florida.
Continents
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
- Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Marshes, prairies and tundra of Canada and the United States, Cuba (all year), and eastern Siberia, where some sandhill cranes nest. In Russia the IUCN lists them only in Eastern Asian Russia. The IUCN also lists Japan and South Korea with uncertain seasons; they are not shaded here.
Places: Canada, United States, Cuba and Russia.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, Japan, Sweden, Russia, Germany and 24 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Mexico, where the IUCN lists sandhill cranes outside the breeding season (northern Mexico, International Crane Foundation). Many also winter in the southern United States, shaded above.
Places: Mexico.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Eating almost everything
Sandhill cranes eat plants and small animals.
They like seeds, berries, roots and bugs.
Sandhill cranes are omnivores: they eat both plants and animals. Their main foods include insects and the roots of water plants, and they also eat rodents, snails, frogs, lizards, snakes, berries and seeds.
They pick food from the ground and poke their bills into the bottoms of lakes. Where farmers grow corn and other grain, sandhill cranes may eat a lot of it.
Audubon calls the sandhill crane omnivorous, with a diet that varies with place and season: major items are insects and the roots of aquatic plants, along with rodents, snails, frogs, lizards, snakes, nestling birds, berries and seeds, and large quantities of cultivated grain when available. The International Crane Foundation lists plant tubers, grains such as corn, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects.
Cranes glean prey from the ground surface and probe lake bottoms with their bills, feeding mostly on land or in shallow marsh. Outside the breeding season they forage in flocks (Audubon). Crop damage by cranes is one of the conflicts the International Crane Foundation works on, promoting deterrents for affected farmers.
Did you know?
A crane pair can sing a duet together.
A sandhill crane pair calls together in a duet called a unison call.
Unison calls are duets by a pair that strengthen the pair bond and defend the territory (International Crane Foundation).
Built for wading and flying
A crane's long legs let it walk in shallow water.
Its long beak finds food on the ground and in the water.
Long legs let a sandhill crane wade in shallow marshes, and its long bill can probe the bottom of a lake. Adults have a red patch on the forehead.
Its wings spread about 2 meters. Cranes from the far north migrate long distances, and some cross the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia every spring and fall.
Adults have black legs and a red forehead patch (International Crane Foundation), with gray plumage that is sometimes stained brown (Audubon). Body size varies by subspecies (International Crane Foundation).
The call is a loud, rattling 'kar-r-r-o-o-o'. The International Crane Foundation describes a soft, purring contact call that signals reassurance and location, a sharp single guard call for alarm, and unison calls: duets by a pair that strengthen their bond and defend their territory.
Chicks that walk on day one
Sandhill cranes build a nest of plants in a marsh.
The chicks can walk away from the nest the day they hatch.
A pair builds a mound of plants in shallow water among the marsh plants, or on dry ground close to water. Some nests float, held in place by growing plants. There are 1 to 3 eggs, and both parents keep them warm for 29 to 32 days.
The chicks leave the nest within a day of hatching and follow their parents through the marsh. They first fly at about 65 to 75 days old, and they stay with their parents for 9 to 10 months, migrating with them.
Audubon (after Kaufman 1996) describes a nest built by both sexes from plant material pulled up around the site, among marsh vegetation in shallow water (sometimes up to about 1 meter deep) or on dry ground nearby; it may be built up from the bottom or float, anchored to standing plants. The clutch is 1 to 3 pale olive to buff eggs marked with brown or gray. Both sexes incubate for 29 to 32 days, the female doing more (typically all night and part of the day).
The young leave the nest within a day of hatching and follow their parents in the marsh. Both parents feed them at first, and they gradually learn to feed themselves. First flight is at about 65 to 75 days, and the young remain with their parents for 9 to 10 months, accompanying them on migration.
Dancing and gathering
Sandhill cranes dance! They spread their wings and jump into the air.
In spring, thousands of cranes gather by a river.
During courtship, sandhill cranes dance: they spread their wings and leap into the air while calling. A pair also calls together in a duet.
On migration, sandhill cranes depend on key places where they stop to rest and feed. In early spring, more than a quarter of a million cranes can be on the Platte River in Nebraska at one time, one of the biggest wildlife gatherings in North America.
Courtship includes an elaborate dance, with birds spreading their wings and leaping into the air while calling (Audubon); pairs also perform unison calls (International Crane Foundation). Outside the breeding season they forage in flocks.
The species reaches its peak abundance at migratory stopovers on the Great Plains; the early-spring gathering on the Platte River in Nebraska, with over a quarter of a million birds present at once, is among the greatest wildlife spectacles on the continent (Audubon). Southern breeders migrate shorter distances; Audubon's text (after Kaufman 1996) adds that in the years before then they had tended to migrate later in fall and earlier in spring, with some wintering farther north than in the past.
Did you know?
Some sandhill cranes fly all the way to Siberia to nest.
Some sandhill cranes cross the Bering Strait every spring and fall, between Alaska and their nests in Siberia.
Northern breeders migrate long distances, some crossing the Bering Strait to and from nesting grounds in Siberia (Audubon).
Listen to a sandhill crane
Listen to the sound at the start of this page.
It is a real sandhill crane calling as it flies.
At the start of this page you can play a real recording of a sandhill crane calling as it flew overhead. It was made at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota on 20 October 2012, where about 5,000 cranes were resting on their fall migration.
You may also hear other cranes calling in the background.
The recording on this page was made by Jonathon Jongsma at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, Minnesota, on 20 October 2012 (xeno-canto, shared on Wikimedia Commons). His notes describe several calls from a single crane flying overhead as it left the roost pond to feed in nearby fields, with many cranes audible in the background at the roost, part of about 5,000 cranes staging there for fall migration.
Did you know?
Lots and lots of cranes visit one river in Nebraska in spring.
In early spring, more than a quarter of a million sandhill cranes can be on the Platte River in Nebraska at the same time.
Audubon calls the early-spring Platte River gathering, with over 250,000 birds at once, among the greatest wildlife spectacles on the continent.
More cranes than before
There are lots of sandhill cranes, and their numbers are growing.
They depend on special places where they stop on their long trips.
The sandhill crane is listed as least concern, and its numbers are going up. There are about 450,000 to 550,000 adults.
But cranes depend on key stopover places on their migration, so damage to those places could harm them. Two small groups that never migrate, in Mississippi and in Cuba, are endangered.
BirdLife International assessed Grus canadensis as Least Concern for the IUCN Red List (assessed 30 October 2020, published 2021): extremely large range and an increasing trend; 670,000 to 830,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2020), about 450,000 to 550,000 mature birds; generation length 12.04 years.
Audubon notes that most populations are stable or increasing, but that dependence on key stopover sites makes the species vulnerable to habitat loss there. The Mississippi (pulla) and Cuban (nesiotes) subspecies are listed as Endangered under the US Endangered Species Act and on CITES Appendix I (International Crane Foundation). The Foundation names conversion of grasslands to farmland, tree planting, development and conflicts with agriculture as threats, and also studies hunting and the risks from power lines and wind turbines.
IUCN Red List
How is the sandhill crane doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
Amazing facts
-
Sandhill crane chicks can leave the nest the day they hatch.
Sandhill crane chicks leave the nest within a day of hatching and follow their parents through the marsh.
The young leave the nest within a day of hatching; both parents feed them at first (Audubon).
-
Lots and lots of cranes visit one river in Nebraska in spring.
In early spring, more than a quarter of a million sandhill cranes can be on the Platte River in Nebraska at the same time.
Audubon calls the early-spring Platte River gathering, with over 250,000 birds at once, among the greatest wildlife spectacles on the continent.
-
Some sandhill cranes fly all the way to Siberia to nest.
Some sandhill cranes cross the Bering Strait every spring and fall, between Alaska and their nests in Siberia.
Northern breeders migrate long distances, some crossing the Bering Strait to and from nesting grounds in Siberia (Audubon).
-
A crane pair can sing a duet together.
A sandhill crane pair calls together in a duet called a unison call.
Unison calls are duets by a pair that strengthen the pair bond and defend the territory (International Crane Foundation).
Words to know
- crane
- a tall bird with long legs, a long neck and a long bill
- omnivore
- an animal that eats both plants and animals
- migration
- a long journey that animals make at the same time each year
- stopover
- a place where migrating birds stop to rest and feed
- courtship
- what animals do to attract a mate
- subspecies
- a group within a species that looks or lives a little differently in its own area
Discovery challenge
-
What color is the patch on an adult crane's head?
What color is the patch on an adult sandhill crane's forehead?
Which field mark is on the forehead of an adult sandhill crane?
- Red
- Blue
- Yellow
Show the answer
Red
Red!
Red. Young cranes have brownish heads instead.
A red forehead patch; juveniles have a brownish head (Audubon).
-
What do sandhill cranes do when they court?
What do sandhill cranes do during courtship?
Which behavior is part of sandhill crane courtship?
- Dance, leaping and spreading their wings
- Dig a burrow together
- Swim underwater
Show the answer
Dance, leaping and spreading their wings
They dance and jump!
They dance, spreading their wings and leaping into the air while calling.
An elaborate dance with wing-spreading, leaping and calling (Audubon).
-
When can a crane chick leave its nest?
How soon do sandhill crane chicks leave the nest?
When do sandhill crane young leave the nest?
- Within a day of hatching
- After one year
- Only after they can fly
Show the answer
Within a day of hatching
On the first day!
Within a day of hatching, and then they follow their parents.
Within a day of hatching; first flight comes much later, at 65 to 75 days (Audubon).
-
What do sandhill cranes eat?
What kind of eater is a sandhill crane?
How is the sandhill crane's diet best described?
- Plants and animals
- Only fish
- Only leaves
Show the answer
Plants and animals
Plants and small animals.
It is an omnivore: roots, seeds, berries and grain, plus insects, snails, frogs and rodents.
Omnivorous, varying with place and season; insects and aquatic plant roots are major items (Audubon).
Places where you might see it
-
Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
-
Watch
Country
Canada
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, stretching across the north of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up into the Arctic. It has the Rocky Mountains, thousands of islands and about 42 million people, who speak English, French and many other languages.
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Canada
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, stretching across the north of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up into the Arctic. It has the Rocky Mountains, thousands of islands and about 42 million people, who speak English, French and many other languages.
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Sarus crane
The sarus crane is a tall gray crane with a bare red head and long red legs. It lives in wetlands, grasslands and farm fields in India, Nepal, Pakistan, parts of Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Pairs dance and call loudly, and they nest on the ground in wetlands.
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The Adélie penguin is a medium-sized penguin, about 70 centimeters tall, with a black back, a white front and a bright white ring around each eye. It breeds in summer on rocky, ice-free ground all around Antarctica, building nests of pebbles, and spends the winter far out at sea among the pack ice.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Canada, the United States, Mexico and Cuba, where sandhill cranes live.
- Explain what an omnivore is, using the sandhill crane's diet.
- Describe how sandhill crane chicks grow up, from the nest to their first migration.
- Explain why stopover places like the Platte River matter to migrating cranes.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might cranes dance and call together?
- Why might so many cranes stop at the same river every spring?
- How could a crane chick that walks on its first day stay safe?
Try at home or in class
- Mark 2 meters on the floor with tape to see how wide a sandhill crane's wings spread, then lie down next to it.
- Try a crane dance with a grown-up: spread your arms like wings and hop. How high can you leap?
Key vocabulary: crane, omnivore, migration, stopover, courtship, subspecies
Where these facts come from
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- Grus canadensis (BirdLife International, assessed 30 October 2020, published 2021) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Grus canadensis: population and justification text , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Grus canadensis: IUCN Red List global assessment record (BirdLife International 2021), IUCN checklist on GBIF , GBIF
- Sandhill Crane (Guide to North American Birds, text after Kaufman 1996) , National Audubon Society
- Sandhill Crane , International Crane Foundation
- File:20260423 sandhill crane matthaei botanical gardens PD07091.jpg (Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 23 April 2026, Paul Danese) , Wikimedia Commons
- File:Grus canadensis - Sandhill Crane - XC111489.ogg (Sherburne NWR, Minnesota, 20 October 2012, Jonathon Jongsma) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.