Sandhill Cranes are the most abundant of the world’s cranes.  They are distributed throughout North America extending into Cuba and northeastern Siberia.  There are six subspecies of Sandhill Crane.  Three (the Mississippi, Cuban, and Florida) have restricted ranges in the southern United States and Cuba and do not migrate.  The three migratory subspecies are the Lesser, Greater and Canadian and their breeding ranges extends across Canada, northern U.S. and far northeastern Siberia.

The Sandhill Crane’s size and weight varies depending on subspecies.  Lesser Sandhills are the smallest weighing 6-7 pounds and standing 3 to 3 ½ feet tall.  The largest is the Greater Sandhill weighing 10-14 pounds and standing 4 ½ to 5 feet tall.  Wings spans range from 6 to 7 feet.

Sandhill cranes are primarily birds of open fresh water wetlands that range from bogs, sedge meadows and fens.  Depending on the subspecies, they are also found in grasslands, pine savannas and cultivated lands.

Mated pairs of Sandhills engage in unison calling, which is a complex and extended series of coordinated calls.  While calling, they will stand in an upright posture with their heads thrown back and beaks skyward.  The female initializes the display with her head back at a 45 degree angle and the male will join in with his head straight up.  All cranes engage in dancing.  This will include various behaviors; bowing, jumping, running, stick or grass tossing and wing flapping.  This is believed to a normal part of motor development and thwarts aggression, relieves tension and strengthens the pair bond.

Nests are usually low mounds made from the dominant vegetation in the area.  They normally lay two eggs.  Both the male and female incubate the eggs for 29-32 days to hatching.  The male is the primary nest defender.  The chicks fledge at 67-75 days old.  Sandhill Cranes do not breed until they are two to seven years old and can live up to 20 years.

Approximately 80% of all Sandhill Cranes utilize a 75 mile stretch of the Platte River in Nebraska for spring migration staging.  Fall migration through Texas begins in September and goes into December as they move to their wintering grounds on the coastal prairies and locally along the Rio Grande in south Texas.  They also winter on the Muleshoe Refuge in the Pan-handle.  Spring migration is March through May as they head back north to their breeding grounds.

Sources:  Peterson Field Guide - Birds of Texas, www.savingcranes.org , www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds.html

No, it is not a name you call someone when you are mad at them.  The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is of the Order – Piciformes, family of Picidae.  In other words, they are in the Woodpecker family.

They are a medium-sized woodpecker with a white stripe running up their sides.  They have a messy black and white barring pattern on their back.  They are 7 – 9 inches in length with a 13 – 16 inch wingspan and weigh 1.5 to 1.9 ounces.  The males have a red chin and throat while the females are white at their chin and throat.  Their sound is a nasal mewing “me-ah”.  They do a distinctive slow, irregular tapping.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker appears to have benefited with the destruction of mature forests and the creation of forest gaps (providing increased edges).  Their population appears to be stable.

They make two kinds of holes in trees to gain access to the sap.  Round holes extend deep in the tree and are not enlarged.  The sapsucker inserts their bill into the hole to probe for sap.  Rectangular holes are shallow, and must be maintained continually for the sap to flow.  The sapsucker licks the sap from these holes, and eats the cambium of the tree also.  New holes are usually made in a line with the old holes, or in a new line above the old.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker frequently uses human-produced materials to help in their territorial drumming.  Street signs and metal chimney flashing amplify the irregular tapping of a territorial sapsucker.  They seam to suffer no ill effects from whacking their bills on metal, and a bird will return to a favorite sign day after day to pound out their Morse code-like messages.

The Yellow-billed Sapsucker is the only woodpecker in eastern North America that is completely migratory.  Although a few individuals remain throughout much of the winter in the southern part of the breeding range, most head farther south, going as far as Panama.  Females tend to migrate farther south than do the males.  They spend the winters here in the Wichita Falls area.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker than came to Wild Bird Rescue was a juvenile.  He suffered temporary head trauma after a collision with a window.  After two weeks he recovered and we were able to release him.

 Sources:  www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Yellw-bellied_Sapsucker.html, Peterson’s Field Guide to Texas Birds, The Sibley Guide to Birds.

A small ground-dwelling Owl with a round head and no ear tufts.  They have white eyebrows, yellow eyes, and long legs.  The Owl is sandy colored on the head, back, and under parts of the wings and white-to-cream with barring on the breast and belly and a prominent white chin stripe.  The females are darker than the males.  The young are brown on the head, back and wings with a white belly and chest.  They molt into adult plumage during their first summer.  The adults are 8 ½ – 11 inches long with a wing span from 20 – 24 inches.  They weigh between 6 – 7 ½ ounces. Burrowing Owls are fairly easy to see because they are active during the daylight as well as at night.  They are surprisingly bold and approachable.  Burrowing Owls are most active at dusk and dawn.  They are highly terrestrial, and are often seen perched on a mound of dirt, telephone or fence post – frequently on one foot.  They bob up and down when excited.  Flight is with irregular, jerky wing beats and they will frequently make long glides, interspersed with rapid wing beats.  They hover during hunting and courtship.  Burrowing Owls have the ability to flap their wings asynchronously meaning not up and down together.  Burrowing Owls feed on a wide variety of food, changing habits as location and time of year determine availability.  A large portion of their diet consists of beetles and grasshoppers.  They also prey on small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, scorpions and birds.  Unlike other Owls, they will eat fruits and seeds, especially the Tesajilla and prickly pear cactus. The nesting season begins in late March or early April.  They are usually monogamous but occasionally a male will have 2 mates.  The male performs display flights, rising quickly to 100 feet, hovering for 5 to 10 seconds, and then dropping 50 feet.  This may be repeated several times and may be accompanied by circling flights.  They nest underground in abandoned burrows dug by mammals.  If soil conditions permit, they will also dig their own burrow.  Burrowing Owls will also use man-made nest boxes placed underground.  6 to 9 (documented up to 12) white eggs are laid a day apart, which are incubated for 28-30 days by the female only.  The male brings her food during this time.  The male cares for the young after they hatch until they leave the nest at 14 days.  The young may be seen just outside the burrow waiting for the adults to return with food.  They leave the nest at 44 days and begin chasing live insects at 49 – 58 days old. Burrowing Owls are able to live for at least 9 years in the wild.  Natural enemies include larger owls, hawks, falcons, badgers, skunks, ferrets, armadillos, snakes, and domestic dogs and cats.    Burrowing Owls are found in open, dry grasslands, agricultural and range lands, and desert habitats often associated with burrowing animals, particularly prairie dogs, ground squirrels and badgers.  They are known to nest in loose colonies, depending on the availability of food and burrows. Burrowing Owls are present in North America from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba Canada, down through all states west of the Mississippi Valley into Mexico, Central America and South America. Population has declined in many areas due to human-caused habitat loss or alteration. They are listed as endangered, threatened, or a species of special concern in most states where they occur.