Ohio's 2022 sandhill crane nesting count sees marked increase over 2021's survey results

 

The number of reported sandhill cranes on their nesting grounds in Ohio has more than doubled in the past year.

During a one-day count in April of sandhill cranes in Ohio, mostly volunteer observers found 371 birds. That figure is more than twice the number of sandhill cranes observed during the 2021 count of 160 birds.

The annual event – called the “Midwest Crane Count” - was coordinated by the Ohio Division of Wildlife, the International Crane Foundation, and the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative.

For the purposes of the count, Ohio Division of Wildlife officials had established 24 pre-selected counties and was conducted during the crane’s nesting season.

Counties were selected based on the availability of wetland habitat that cranes use for nesting. Sandhill cranes can be secretive during their breeding season, and the survey is an effort to better understand Ohio’s breeding population, the Wildlife Division says.

The top seven counties with the most sightings were Wayne (84), Lucas (60), Geauga (56), Trumbull (47), Holmes (18), Ottawa (17), and Wyandot (17).

Volunteers searched crane habitat within the preselected 10-square mile survey blocks. The count was the second of what will be an annual event to track the status of sandhill cranes in the state, the Wildlife Division adds as well.

Sandhill cranes are tall wading birds, each characterized by a long neck and bill. They are mostly gray in plumage with a red patch on its forehead.

Individuals may stand up to four feet tall with a wingspans of up to 6.5 feet with a weight of just over eight pounds for males and seven pounds for females. Sandhills mate for life.

The young are called “colts” and though a female may lay two or three eggs, often only one colt survives. Males assist in the incubation of the eggs.

To hear one is to understand the term “wild,” and is unforgettable, sometimes referred to as a rolling bugle. Prehistoric-like throaty bellow may even be more accurate.

Sandhills are migratory, breeding in wetlands across the northern U.S. and Canada, and wintering farther south in North America. Florida has a growing year-round population.

The species was once extirpated from Ohio but has begun to reestablish itself on its own. They returned to Wayne County in 1987 to breed and have been expanding ever since.

It is estimated that the total North American population of sandhill cranes is 670,000 to 830,000 birds. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services estimates the three-year annual kill by hunters averages almost 23,000 birds, slightly above the long-term goal of 17,000 to 21,000 birds annually being taken.

In Ohio, sandhill cranes remain on the state’s threatened species list, but are huntable in about a dozen states, most notably in the Midwest down through Texas. Kentucky has established a two-bird per day season.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com