Dancing Colts
Today we’re down a backroad, pulled over next to a recently mowed down agricultural field. The ruts from the tractor are muddy and waterlogged, but our friends today don’t mind. With small trees and brush making a natural border around the field, it gives them a pretty safe stay during their pit stop on the way north. Let’s look closer and see who it is!
This week on the path!
It’s a sedge of Sandhill Cranes!
These large birds are hard to miss, and not just because of their size either. While they do get up to nearly 4ft with a wingspan of roughly 6-6.5ft, they weigh less than 10 pounds! Males are slightly larger at about 8lbs where females are usually just over 7lbs. Their sound is just as big, if not bigger, than their size! They’re quite known for their loud trumpeting or bugling call. Then when they aren’t singing, you may be lucky enough to see them dancing. They love to bow, hop, and bob their heads, as well as stretch and flap their wings while they dance and leap around. They do it for many reasons, for anything from choosing a mate, mate bonding, teaching their young, or even expressing emotions.
Sandhill Cranes are one of the few truly monogamous animals that stay together permanently. While there are animals considered monogamous because they come back to the same partner each breeding season after spending time apart, Sandhill Crane pairs will stay together, even when it isn’t the breeding season.
When it comes to their offspring, female will lay 1-3 eggs in a raised nest of plants like cattails, reeds, and bulrushes. Both parents share the responsibility of incubating the eggs for about a month. Once they hatch, the chicks can leave the nest—and even swim—within 8 hours of hatching! That considered, it makes sense that Sandhill Crane chicks are also called colts. When they hatch the chicks are a cinnamon sort of color, then turn gray as they get older. What about the rusty markings on the adults then? That’s not actually the natural color of their feathers, its stains from iron-rich mud they camouflage themselves with during the breeding season. Sandhill Crane colts will stay with their parents up to about 10 months, when they’ll typically separate to join groups of other juveniles after the migration to the breeding grounds in the spring. After maturing, they can take anywhere from 2-7 years to choose a mate of their own. No rush right? Especially since the oldest recorded Sandhill Crane was 37 years old!
Want one last crazy fact that doesn’t quite fit in with the rest? These awesome birds have a horizontally-closing 3rd eyelid that helps keep their eyes from drying out and protects them from things like dust and other debris!
Where to find:
In late winter they are often seen in huge groups meeting up on their way from southern North America, up to the northern reaches of North America for breeding. They like to make pit stops in cleared fields like the agricultural one we’re visiting. On these stops they’ll be spending some time resting and refueling on things like grains, berries, invertebrates, and even small vertebrates.
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Today's newsletter includes information referenced from All About Birds, Audubon, Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition, and The Nature Conservancy