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Science and Innovations

Earth Notes: The Love Song of the Sandhill Crane

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

People in New Mexico pay close attention to the sky this time of year, watching and listening for flocks of sandhill cranes flying in graceful V-formation.

Each winter, ten to twenty thousand sandhills arrive, spending the days resting and feeding along the Rio Grande around Albuquerque and south. Others winter in southeastern Arizona.

By February, the long-legged, long-necked birds are preparing to make their way back to their breeding grounds—greater sandhills to the northern Rockies, lesser sandhills as far as Alaska and Siberia.  Part of that preparation involves wooing a valentine through elaborate courtship “dances” accompanied by primordial, trumpeting calls.

At the University of New Mexico, ornithologist Christopher Witt tried to figure out why these birds sound so big, even though they weigh less than your average housecat.

It turns out that both male and female cranes prefer larger mates that can more effectively fend off predators. This preference has caused the evolution of a bizarre body feature—an elongated windpipe coiled inside the crane’s breastbone.

The longer windpipes make the birds sound enormous, enticing their mates while allowing them to keep their bodies light enough for takeoff and for long-distance migratory flights.

It’s not a box of chocolates or a romantic bouquet. But, for sandhill cranes, a resounding call through their built-in instrument is something even better. Wing to wing, the newfound sweethearts will undertake their demanding northward migration, and together they’ll defend their young against hungry coyotes and eagles.

Earth Notes is produced by KNAU and the Sustainable Communities Program at Northern Arizona University.

Learn more about Christopher Witt’s research on sandhill cranes at http://biology.unm.edu/Witt/.