Courtesy Preview
This Introductory article that you are viewing is a courtesy preview of the full life history account of this species. The remaining articles (Distribution, Habitat, Behavior, etc.), as well as the Multimedia Galleries and Reference sections of this account are subscriber-only content, and you will need a subscription in order to view the species account in its entirety. Click on the Subscribe tab for more information.
If you are already a current subscriber, you will need to sign in with your login information to access BNA normally.
Distinguishing Characteristics
Sandhill Crane, adults.
Florida Sandhill Crane
Sexes similar in plumage (monochromatic); males usually larger than females (3.75 vs. 3.34 kg: G. c. canadensis). Height 1.2 m with wing spans about 2 m. Ten primaries and 16 secondaries; innermost secondary coverts and tertials elongate, ornamental, drooping over tail. Tail has 12 comparatively short rectrices. Foot anisodactic (3 toes forward, 1 [hallux] back); hallux elevated and functionally vestigial. Grus species do not perch. Bill elongated and stout. Internasal septum perforate. Bare papillos skin, sparsely covered with black hairlike bristles, extends from base of bill above the eyes to back of head, encompassing forehead, lores, and crown. White cheek contrasts with gray neck. Differ from Whooping Cranes (G. americana), the only other native American crane, by smaller size and uniform gray appearance. Common Crane (G. Grus), an old world species accidental in North America (American Ornithologists’ Union 1983), is similarly gray but with forehead, lores, and neck black, bare papillos crown smaller than that of Sandhill Crane, and white cheek more elongated.
Tacha, T. C., S. A. Nesbitt and P. A. Vohs. 1992. Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/031
