Sandhill Crane family

I got unusually close to this family of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) this afternoon. I generally stay a few hundred feet away so that passersby don't see the vulnerable chicks. I was photographing some flowers and the family walked past me -- about 20 feet distant.



Sandhill Cranes are large cranes of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird species references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American midwest.



These cranes are nesting in the lakes around our home. They generally nest in marsh vegetation or on the ground close to water. The female lays two eggs on a mound of vegetation. It is rare that both chicks hatch and grow to independence.



Sandhill crane chicks are referred to as "colts." The colts are taught to fly over many weeks when they run and dance with their parents.