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Sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) with chick, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 2015.

Sandhill cranes mate for life, choosing their partners based on dancing displays. They stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow and leap into the air during their mating display. Did you notice the adorable juvenile offspring in the grass? They usually stay with the family until reaching 10-months of age. Interestingly, this bird's common name, 'sandhill crane', refers to the most important stopover for the nominotypical subspecies, the lesser sandhill crane, which is the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on the American Plains. Up to 450,000 of these birds migrate through this stopover annually! NOTE: when a species is split into subspecies, the originally-described population is called the nominotypical or nominate subspecies and repeats the same name as the species. Example, the sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) and the lesser sandhill crane (Grus canadensis canadensis).

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Code: SLBE

National Park Service Facebook Photos

Title: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
URL: https://www.facebook.com/sbdnl/timeline

20150531

05/31/2015

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Organization: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Address: 9922 Front Street, Empire, MI 49630

Friday, December 9, 2016 8:38:05 AM

Wednesday, August 9, 2017 5:16:49 PM

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