Sandhill cranes in NW Ohio

They are regular visitors in my neck of the woods, big beautiful birds. You can hunt them here after September 1st, but I can never bring myself to shoot one as they mate for life and Id feel bad separating such devoted partners. They wander right up to the porch on my dads hay farm and are always covering his fields. They sure do make strange noises.

They taste like ham, good with Seasonall and roasted by a cotton wood fire.
That Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp sorta sound is very distinct, I love calling to them.

Ribeye of the Sky.

We had them all over in MI growing up. No hunting season for them but I probably wouldn’t shoot one anyway. I sure won’t begrudge anyone who does though.

We have them pass through here occasionally. There was a small bunch that would land behind my house in the exact same spot in the field every time. I dont know what the attraction was to that spot, but we would hear their odd trill and see them there.

They are a protected species in Florida. One can see road side signs warning motorists of their habitat and Ive seen family groups of three to four chicks and the adults in those areas.

They winter here in NM, lots of them at the Bosque Del Apache National National Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding areas. We usually make a trip down every winter to see them along with the many other birds there. In the late fall they are sometimes flying overhead as they make their way south along the Rio Grande corridor.

Lived all my life in NE Ohio and just saw a pair in spring a couple of years ago.

they were in a neighbors field at the edge of a ditch, their appearance was enough for me to stop the Jeep in the road to check them out.

But things got weird when I noticed a Tom turkey about a 100 yards out in the middle of the field in full strut.

I have a pair that come into my yard and drink out my fountain. Here in central Florida we see them often.

I've heard they're good eating. I'd surely try it. Kind of an unusual creature to hunt, is there any use for those long legs and neck?

We get them thru here every year ( at least since I've resided here )
Most unorganized and ungainly looking flocks I have ever seen.
I hear them more than I see them.
It sounds as though they are upriver from my place.

To me they sound like what I imagine a dinosaur would sound like.

furburgler said:

You can’t hunt them in Ohio...

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Next door in KY they do.

Sandhills and Turkeys sharing a meal source.. More Sandhills all along the back. They number in the thousands....

magyars4 said:

Most unorganized and ungainly looking flocks I have ever seen.

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They're a fairly common sight here - Marsh Valley, Idaho. And I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself, but there's a grove of cottonwood trees a few miles from here that the "ungainly looking" things nest in the spring. It's quite a sight - those huge nests, and tall, goofy looking birds high up in those trees. Besides that, I think the cranes must line their nests with leaves because there's not many leaves left on those trees when the cranes are nesting in them.
There's a couple of houses just across the road from that grove of cottonwood trees, and I think the people that live there are probably the ones that posted the signs along the road that read, "Caution, Bird Watching Area" - in the spring, there's almost always a vehicle or two pulled off, and the people in the vehicle(s) are gawking and taking pictures.

Alaskan Ironworker said:

They sure do make strange noises.

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Yeah, they do sound strange. And going by the footprints I've seen, they must have huge feet too.

They are common here too, in fact they nest on the back of my property and the neighbors too.

DM

Crane story...Several years back we are at the refuge watching the Cranes (along with many thousands of Snow Geese) but particularly interested in a large group of Bald Eagles, when a tour bus comes in. They all pile out so I say, "Did you see all the eagles?", to which one replies, "We are from Alaska, we're here to see the cranes, those eagles are like rats to us". Gave me a chuckle for sure.
Snow Geese with Cranes to the left.

We still have them. No hunting but farmers can get a nuisance permit to kill some of them, they have to leave them to rot in the field can't eat them or take so much as one feather.

I interviewed for a job on Kearney, Nebraska years ago and it happened to be when the sandhill cranes were migrating along the Platt River. Kearney is known as the Sandhill Capital of the World. There were 1,000s of them and a sight to behold. That alone almost convinced me to accept the job offer, but my wife didn't like Kearney so I declined the offer. Later my wife ran off with her boss. I should have accepted the job and dumped the wife!

We live on some acreage north of the Twin Cities in MN. They are very destructive birds to the yard grass, tearing it up in clumps trying to get to the bugs/grubs. While there is a season in MN, it's short, and it's only in the far NW corner of the state.
We have, on snow goose hunts in Saskatchewan, taken them, and sliced the breasts thin and dredged them is seasoned flour and fried them in a cast iron skillet on a propane burner after a morning hunt once all the decoys were picked up. Really dark meat, similar to moose or beef almost. You wouldn't believe it's a bird by eating it.