ALL ABOUT SANDHILL CRANES | FUN FACTS

The Sandhill Cranes are back at Bidwell Canyon Farm! I captured some Mavic Mini Drone footage of the cranes as well as snapped a few closeups with my Canon EOS 5D. Subscribe to the channel to stay up to speed with our weekly uploads and join the Farm Fam.

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#SandhillCranes #BackyardBirds #TheCranesAreBack

[sabrinababiixo]

“ Talk about a sunburn “ threw me out of my seat hahah that’s so funny 😂

[hissingoose]

The goose is like “yea, I see your dancing, but that’s nothing compared to my pure evil”

[shewolf_wildx]

That was really funny…thank you. This was our bedtime video tonight

[Magritte]

I am late to this video.. but LOVED it. I live in a very populated area South of Tampa Florida where Sandhills are very common. They eat out of all our feeders and can knock on our glass windows and doors and even walk on the roads and sidewalks. They are wonderful Creatures and I love to Dance WITH them.

[willgaukler]

... Michigan home owner living by the lakes ... we have a population of Cranes around ... they return every year to have their little fuzz ball chick ...one year they even over wintered here ... zone 6 then when the chick came back with her mate ... well makes ya feel good ...

[gryphenicedancer]

So the cranes in your area are shy?

I was filming the pair that hangs around my area in Florida, and almost got run over when the big one went after my cat.

This particular pair seems to have no fear at all of people, I've gotten within arm reach.

Though with those beaks and how I've seen them go after the cats, I don't dare try to touch. They are cool, though, and we've had many staring contests.

Walked out on the carport the other morning and almost bumped into the big one - he had walked right into the carport and wasn't budging. I just said a surprized "well, hello there!" and went around the other side. He was still there when I got in my truck and left. Bold as brass, that one!

[beaurex]

They are quite tame where I live, in the Midwest.

[braddywarbucks]

Where I live they walk in traffic. Not joking. They will stand in front of your car until you move them.

[lilihillis]

Sandhill sunscreen, keeps your head from burnin'...love those birdies...

[grandmathompson]

I have sand hill cranes in my yard I live in Hartland Michigan I have been feeding them for over two years they left last year on December first and came back on march first 2022 and brought me a baby crane about as big as a baby chicken I love them and they love me if that’s possible they understand me I call them when they are in the neighbors yard I say comeamama are you hungry and they come right up to my deck I stand not even a foot away I throw them corn and they dance for me I have named them baby bird and mama bird Angela and daddy bird Andrew or I simply say big bird and I love you are you hungry they come to me three times a day breakfast lunch and supper and now even when I am setting outside they come right up to where I am setting they truly trust me and I trust them is this normal behavior they really love me and I them I don’t know when or where they will leave last year it was cold here and we even had snow is this normal please let me know about my children the cranes thank you and god bless gods children and mine

[rachelhallie]

wow I can't believe mothman visits your farm

[BillCoz]

We have had a pair of sandhill cranes staying around the swamp out in our back yard all spring, we put out corn and birdseed and other food for the animals and they stop by multiple times a day to eat, then they walk back around the swamp to their hidden nest, far enough into a little swampy wooded area for them to be hidden from all sides. 

A while back we started seeing only 1 of them at a time for a couple weeks, and then one day a few weeks ago they showed up with 2 chicks!

One baby was a lot smaller than the other and seemed to have a hard time keeping up and would sit down immediately when they'd get to the food pile and the others would just start eating, while the runt seemed to have to catch it's breath or something.

IDK what it was but that chick seems much better now. It's almost actually caught up with it's sibling in size, and they grow pretty damn fast. I'd guess the babies are both over 1.5 feet tall or so, I haven't gotten that close to them because I would never want to scare em away. The parents are HUGE birds lol.. 

I think maybe the parents are taking the chicks out farther and farther from the nest or exploring different areas because we didn't see the family for 3 days, then just a little while ago I looked out there and they are out there eating right now at the food pile, which is a slight relief.

Any time I don't see them for a day I worry, although I don't think there's much around here as far as predators that 4 foot birds with 6 inch pointy-sharp beaks would have to worry about, aside from getting hit by a car. 

That is a real worry as we live on a pretty busy 55 mph road, which means people regularly drive 80 mph down it and smack deer constantly. There's ALWAYS dead animals along the road, I've never seen a crane hit but it'd be traumatic for me.

Around mid-March this year we actually had a mink run out and sniff around the food pile, then it left and we've not see it since. That worried me a bit at the time because we were assuming the cranes had a nest back there, that was before we saw the chicks to know for sure they were even nesting, but a mink seems to me like a critter that would be an egg thief or chick killer, IDK if that's true though.