A close relative of the nearly extinct Whooping Crane, there are between 4000 to 5000 nonmigratory Sandhill Cranes in Florida that hang out in the state all year round, nesting in freshwater ponds and marshes, and around 25000 that migrate from the Great Lakes region during winter. Kinda like US and Canadian snowbirds. 🙂
When two mating pairs arrived at an Orlando RV park I was staying at it was a spectacle. You cannot miss them. They grow up to five feet in height and weigh up to 11 pounds.
My main worry was a dog would attack and kill one as they were very docile and seemed happy to just pick at the grass between sites and displayed very little fear of humans. The featured photo I took at another campground that had a group of spindly-legged Sandhill Cranes wandering around.
There are six subspecies of Sandhill Cranes
There are a total of six subspecies of Sandhill Cranes, three of which are migratory: Lesser, Greater and Canadian Sandhills. In addition to Florida, they fly each winter from Northern U.S., Canada, Alaska and Siberia to Texas, California, New Mexico, and Mexico to nest and rear their young.
Two of these subspecies are federally listed as “Endangered”—the Mississippi sandhill crane and the Cuban sandhill crane. One of the oldest living birds on the planet, Sandhill Cranes mate for life and live 20 to 30 years.
Kentucky legalizes killing cranes in 2011
Thanks to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) estabilshed in 1918 that banned hunting and the creation of wildlife sanctuaries, decimated Sandhill Crane populations in Texas, Alabama, southern Lousiana and elsewhere recovered and are thriving.
In Florida the primary threats to their survival are wetland drainage and conversion of dry prarie—i.e. low shrubs and grasses in south and central Florida—to farmland.
Kentucky legalized a “Sandhill Crane hunting season” in 2011. It continues to this day with other states in the US and Canadian provinces joining in. Why anyone would choose to kill this magnificent bird is beyond me, yet the biggest argument against legal harvesting is that endangered Whooping Cranes often fly with Sandhill Cranes and can be inadvertently killed as well; sad and tragic.
Sandhill Cranes in Florida are “Threatened”
Sandhill Cranes are designated a “Threatened” species under Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule. If a Sandhill Crane is intentionally killed the perpetrator can be fined up to $50,000 and be sentenced up to a year in prison.
If you do happen to come across a Sandhill Crane during your Florida travels I can vouch it’s a delightful site to see.
