Health & Fitness
Motorist and Residents Must Watch Out for Sandhill Cranes
This is an article to raise awareness of Sandhill Cranes in the roadway at East Lake Road and Tarpon Avenue. The cranes have been crossing the busy intersection.
Sandhill Cranes and busy roads don’t mix, especially here in the East Lake area of Palm Harbor. A pair of sandhill cranes and their two colts are crossing the busy intersection which is under construction due to the widening of Tarpon Avenue. Typically the sandhill cranes fly to the northwest corner of that intersection to utilize the newly created pond there. However, now that two flightless young are present, the sandhill cranes are walking across the intersection and causing alarm among motorists and nearby residents who have watched them make the treacherous crossing. Due to safety concerns, digitized signs will be placed at the intersection to help warn motorists of their presence. This is an area where collisions with other wildlife such as deer are also common.
Florida Sandhill Cranes are a threatened species. They mate for life and are a long lived species with ages ranging up to 20 years old. There are few pairs of nesting sandhill cranes left in Pinellas County. Last year one of the mated pair that nested just off Tampa Road and East Lake in the Boot Ranch area was hit by a car. The crane was cared for by the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary http://www.seabirdsanctuary.com/ but did not survive. As a result the territory was lost and the south end of East Lake no longer has a pair of nesting sandhill cranes.
Sandhill Cranes are gray with red heads and stand about 4 feet tall. They utilize golf courses and lawns, but it is important not to feed them. Parents teach the young birds how to forage for food and that is a skill which should not be sacrificed. To read more about sandhill cranes and conservation for sandhill cranes please visit http://www.fnai.org/FieldGuide/pdf/Grus_canadensis_pratensis.pdf and http://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/sandhill-cranes/
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If you see an injured or a dead Sandhill Crane in the East Lake area please report it to any of the following: Barb Walker at 727-798-2385, Lynn Zablo at 813-310-9363 or call the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary at 727-391-6211. Sandhill Cranes can also be taken to Save Our Seabirds http://www.saveourseabirds.org/ in Sarasota a facility which specializes in rehabilitation of that species including the use of prosthetics.