Sandhill Crane

(Antigone canadensis)

Information

Sandhill Crane - Species Profile

Sandhill Crane - Featured photo
Photo by Kim R Harcey

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

N4B, N4N - Apparently Secure Breeding and Nonbreeding
S4B,SNRM - Apparently Secure Breeding, Unranked Migrant

Minnesota

not listed

Description

 

Size

Total length: 42 to 48

Wingspan: 72 to 84

Voice

 

Similar Species

 

Habitat

Shallow marshes

Ecology

Migration

Late March to early May and early September to early December

Nesting

 

Diet

 

Distribution

Occurrence

Uncommon breeder; uncommon to common migrant

Maps

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map

Taxonomy

Class

Aves (Birds)

Order

Gruiformes (Cranes, Rails, and Allies)

Family

Gruidae (Cranes)

Subfamily

Gruinae

Genus

Antigone (Antogone Cranes)

Genus

Sandhill Crane was formerly classified as Grus canadensis. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 showed the genus Grus to be polyphyletic, not evolutionarily distinct. The species were rearranged into four evolutionarily distinct (monophyletic) genera, and Sandhill Crane was placed in the resurrected genus Antigone.

Subordinate Taxa

Canadian Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis rowani)

Cuban Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis nesiotes)

Florida Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis pratensis)

Greater Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis tabida)

Lesser Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis canadensis)

Mississippi Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis pulla)

Populations

Minnesota’s Sandhill Cranes are all of the subspecies Greater Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis tabida). There are five populations of the subspecies tabida in North America. They differ morphologically but have not been differentiated taxonomically. Two of the populations are resident in Minnesota. According to the Minnesota DNR, “...cranes in northwest Minnesota belong to the mid-continent population while those in central and east-central Minnesota belong to the eastern population.”

Synonyms

Grus canadensis

Photos

Visitor Photos

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Kim R Harcey

Pair of Sandhill Cranes visit us here on the Rum River

Sandhill Crane 16
Sandhill Crane 17
Sandhill Crane 18
Sandhill Crane 19

Dan W. Andree

Sandhill Crane 15
Sandhill Crane and a baby one...
Sandhill Crane 12

Brownest Sandhill Cranes I have ever seen...

They were at a dried up pond. Looked similar in color to the whitetail deer this time of year.

Sandhill Crane 11

Dancing Crane...

It just started doing the crane dance and was entertaining to watch.

Sandhill Crane 10

Sandhill Crane....

Rural Norman Co. Mn. Spring 2018….

Sandhill Crane 09

Sandhill Cranes rural Norman Co., Mn.

Seen them east of Twin Valley, Mn. Three together and they all started walking while I took their photo. A sign of Spring with their return.

Bill Reynolds

Sandhill Crane 08
Here is a Sandhill Crane in my backyard.

Wayne Rasmussen

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge 04

Sandhill Crane in wetlands of Sherburne Co

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is located in the east central region of the state, approximately 50 miles northwest of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area and 30 miles southeast of St. Cloud. The refuge protects 30,700 acres of habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.

Minnesota Seasons Photos

Sandhill Crane 02
Sandhill Crane 02
Sandhill Crane 03
Sandhill Crane 04

Slideshows

Slideshows

Sandhill Crane
JMC Nature Photos

Sandhill Cranes, 2012
Joshua Mayer

Sandhill Crane
Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Sandhill Cranes
Craig A. Mullenbach

About

Uploaded on Dec 15, 2010

A special close-up look at the Sandhill cranes stopping over at the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in Medaryville, Indiana.

Close-up look at the Sandhill cranes
Chicago Tribune

About

Uploaded on Dec 15, 2010

A special close-up look at the Sandhill cranes stopping over at the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in Medaryville, Indiana.

Nature Photography - Sandhill Cranes
Kristen Westlake

About

Uploaded on Sep 17, 2007

http://www.kristenwestlake.net/galleries/002Wildlife/Birds/Sandhill-Cranes/ for pictures from my Sandhill crane Gallery.

The Sandhill Cranes at a flyway East of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Videos

Visitor Videos

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Kim R Harcey

Sandhill Cranes arrived in our yard on Rum River
May 9, 2026

About

Sandhill Cranes arrived in our yard on Rum River
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)
Cambridge, MN
3/30/2026
Video by Kim R Harcey

Sandhill Crane calls
May 9, 2026

About

Sandhill Crane calls
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)
on the Rum River
Cambridge, MN
3/30/2026
Video by Kim R Harcey

Calls of Sandhill Cranes
May 9, 2026

About

Calls of Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)
Cambridge, MN
3/30/2026
Video by Kim R Harcey

Other Videos

Nebraska's Great Sandhill Crane Migration
Crane Trust

About

Published on Jan 12, 2013

Experience the wonder of Nebraska's Great Sandhill Crane Migration with the Crane Trust.

Three Sandhill Cranes calling to cranes flying past
babyleon

About

Uploaded on May 2, 2011

Three Sandhill Cranes, likely a family group of two adults and a juvenile, respond to the calls of a group of Sandhill Cranes flying past. This was filmed on May 1, 2011 in Far North Bicentennial Park, Anchorage, Alaska. The video starts with the likely juvenile Sandhill Crane hunting for Wood Frogs. The first call of the distant cranes is heard around 1:00. Where the two likely adults are first seen, the male is probably the one on the right. The entire calling episode is included.

Sandhill Cranes Dance
MadisonFloridaVoice

About

Uploaded on Jan 30, 2011

This pair of Sandhill Cranes have taken up residence on our farm.

Dancing is emblematic of cranes. For birds that are usually cautious and often secretive, dancing draws attention and furthermore it is energy-expensive. Dancing is frequent in the lives of cranes because it establishes social relationships, announces territorial claims, cements decades-long pair bonding, and hastens the education of the young. It looks like fun and, sometimes, it may be play.

Source: http://www.christyyuncker.com/WhyCranesDance.shtml

Sandhill Cranes at Jasper-Pulaski FWA | Indiana DNR
Indiana Department of Natural Resources

About

Published on Nov 19, 2012

Jim Bergens, Property Manager at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, discusses why Sandhill Cranes converge on Jasper-Pulaski FWA each year in the Fall and Spring and how to best view them. For more information about Jasper-Pulaski FWA, visit: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3091.htm and to learn more about Sandhill Cranes, visit: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3109.htm

Sandhill Cranes 2.. Minnesota River Valley National Wildlife Refuge 10/7
pefawa

About

Published on Oct 8, 2012

The clouds are free only to go with the wind...

As in all migratory cranes, the spring journey to the Breeding grounds is far more urgent than the return in autumn. In a week or two, even the last Sandhills lift from the river bottoms, calling to their kind to follow as they circle higher into hard March skies, a few families of Whooping Cranes come from the south. Arriving later in the season, not lingering long, the unsociable whoopers ignore the last of the Sandhills clusters or chase them from their feeding grounds and roosts. Sandhills, like Whooping Cranes are diurnal migrants, taking advantage of the warm thermals and using "spiral gliding" flight wherever possible to conserve energy. Both species are thought to drive off their last year's young during spring migration, and since juveniles lack the reproductive urge that might propel them further north, they often wander. Forming orderly companies over the river valley, the circling Sandhills take their bearings on distant Breeding grounds in the sub-Arctic, fanning out like flights of mighty arrows. Many of the lesser Sandhill's will point toward the Yukon delta in the far northwest and the shine of the north Pacific....and some will cross the ice strewn water of the Bering Strait, gliding and soaring on cold Arctic winds toward the white horizons of Siberia..

Sightings

Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this bird.

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Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.

Kim R Harcey
3/30/2026

Sandhill Crane

Location: Cambridge, MN

Pair of Sandhill Cranes visit us here on the Rum River

Dan W. Andree
7/3/2025

Sandhill Crane

Location: Norman Co. Mn.

Sandhill Crane and a baby one...

Mike Poeppe
7/3/2023

Sandhill Crane

Location: near Houston, MN

Mike Poeppe
5/5/2023

Sandhill Crane

Location: just east of Hohak, MN

Nancy Falkum
5/27/2022

Location: South of Kellogg, MN

On the way back to Kellogg we spotted 20 Sandhill cranes on Army Corps land. With two young ones

Dan W. Andree
End of June 2021

Sandhill Crane

Location: Rural Norman Co. Mn.

They were at a dried up pond. Looked similar in color to the whitetail deer this time of year.

Dan W. Andree
April 2021

Sandhill Crane

Location: Northern Tallgrass Prairie NWR, Pavia Unit

It just started doing the crane dance and was entertaining to watch.

Dan W. Andree
Spring 2018

Sandhill Crane

Location: Rural Norman Co. Mn.

Dan W. Andree
4/12/2018

Sandhill Crane

Location: east of Twin Valley, Mn

Three together and they all started walking while I took their photo. A sign of Spring with their return.

Bill Reynolds
5/8/2017

Sandhill Crane

Location: Pennington County

Here is a Sandhill Crane in my backyard.

Joel Motylinski
8/2/2016

Sandhill Crane

Location: Oakdale , Mn. Washington County

Wayne Rasmussen
6/8/2016

Sandhill Crane

Location: Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

Sandhill Crane in wetlands of Sherburne Co

Minnesota Seasons Sightings