Birds of Heaven

The next time you hear what sounds like a malfunctioning hand-cranked mechanical device hurtling through the sky, look up low just above the trees and you might see a a couple of sandhill cranes jerking along overhead. Naturalist and author Peter Mattihessen called cranes the "Birds of Heaven" in reference to the number of myths worldwide that describe cranes transporting human passengers to the next world above the skies.

There are many species of cranes (whoopers get the most press) and they occur on every continent except South America.  Most crane species are migratory, covering vast distances in their annual travels.  Here we are lucky that the Florida version of the Sandhill stays with us year-round, which means it breeds and raises chicks in or near the areas in which most of us live.  Sometimes flocks of sandhills congregate in huge numbers.  In March and April the wetland basin at the north rim of Paynes Prairie Preserve in Gainesville can be literally alive with Sandhills, which is a perfect place for them.  In our area, similar wetland-prairie conditions in New Tampa and around USF provide enough habitat for these birds to raise families, and it's not unusual to see mom, dad, and a couple of kids calmly grazing on the roadside as the traffic goes speeding by.  Motorists, slow down!  Seeing a sandhill is an auspicious way to start the day.

Around here, I've seen them on the infield of the track at Greco Middle School (where I threatened some kids who were threatening them), along Bullard Parkway, and flying over the West River Preserve peninsula (the most recent of these sightings, last week, being the inspiration for this post).

Once you see a Sandhill Crane there's no mistaking it ever after.  It could well be the largest of our birds, carries itself like an ostrich, brilliant patch of red on its crown and down across the side or its head, unperturbed in its bearing, and usually in groups of two or three.  And then there's its call...