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Animal profile

Sandhill Crane

Antigone canadensis

AvesWet meadows, bogs, prairie marshes, river sandbars and harvested grain fieldsLeast Concern

Field profile

The sandhill crane is a tall grey crane with a red crown of bare skin and a bustle of drooping feathers over the tail. It feeds on grain, tubers and invertebrates in open country. Its migration includes one of the largest bird concentrations in North America, when hundreds of thousands stage along the Platte River in Nebraska each spring.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-04-14

Sandhill Crane

Most sandhill cranes pass through one river valley

Each spring the great majority of North America's sandhill cranes funnel into a short stretch of the Platte River in Nebraska. They spend weeks feeding on waste grain to build fat for the flight north, then leave almost at once.

Read with evidence →

Sandhill Crane | Daily Animal Facts