Posted: 4/26/05
Crane counters have a good day
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Sandhill cranes are showing up more and more in Houston County. That has bird experts puzzled in a good sort of way.
Ten people pondered the question and more at the Copper Penny in Brownsville on Saturday morning, April 16.
They had just returned from two hours of looking and listening for the birds during a first-ever Houston County Crane County. They had seen a total of 19 cranes, including six pairs, at five sites in the county.
Fred Lesher of La Crosse said the cranes are very numerous in western sites in Nebraska and Saskatchewan, Canada. Fifty years ago the cranes were almost exclusively a Great Plains bird, he said.
Perhaps agricultural practices like not farming flood plains is luring them here, Lesher said, or they could also be a spill-out from surplus population on the plains.
Sandhill cranes migrate through our area from the gulf Coast and the East Coast. But birds that people see around here now are nesting here, Lesher said.
The birds are reclusive, and may have been around in remote areas longer than people think, Maureen Cooney, Winona, said.
Sandhill cranes like low-lying, grassy land, close to fields where they can forage for grain, Stewart Shaw of Winona said.
They have a distinctive call, like a warble, he added.
ěI would say itís un undulating,î his wife, Kay, said.
Itís loud and penetrating, Stewart added.
Lesher said it was a bugle call. ěIt carries for miles.î
Cooney organized the Houston County sandhill crane count. She had never had volunteers here before. The count has been happening nationally for 30 years.
Cooney measured the success of the dayís count not only in the bird statistics, but in the networking that was going on around the table over the fine food of the Copper Penny.
Whatís so intriguing about sandhill cranes? Cooney paused a bit before answering. She likes the sounds, and the way the birds move together. And they bring her a bit of serenity in todayís chaotic world. You can simplify your life by sitting and observing them, she said.
Lesher agreed. Cranes have long elicited poetry and songs, he said. And they are imposing, especially whooping cranes, which stand six feet tall.
Not the whole story
Then Lesher added a caveat. Yes, the cranes seem to be a success story, along with what he calls other ěstar birdsî like bald eagles and tundra swans.
But itís not the whole story. Some so-called insignificant birds are disappearing, Lesher said. For example, Lesher used to hear cerulean warblers at the end of Klondike Road east of Freeburg. But he hasnít heard one for two years now.
ěNobody knows about cerulean warblers,î Lesher said. ěTheyíre not like eagles or sandhill cranes.î
A lot of people are moving to the hills and along the river. Some are good stewards, but not everyone is, Lesher said. The problem has roots in South America too, where birds like warblers are losing habitat from coffee plantations at their wintering grounds.
Groups like the Nature Conservancy are buying the best land, but marginal land is being developed, Lesher said.
Colleen Tracy, one of the crane count volunteers, had an article from the July 29, 1993, Houston Gazette and Country Journal, of which she was the editor.
The article was about a pair of nesting sandhill cranes between Houston and Hokah. It was only the second verified pair of nesting cranes in the county.
Tracy gave a good description of the birds: ěAmong the tallest birds in the world, sandhill cranes stand as high as 48 inches and sport a wingspan as wide as 80 inches. They are mostly gray in color, but appear brown due to staining that results from the mud and bog water in their marshy nesting areas. Both sexes have red foreheads and share in the incubation and reading of their young. Noted for their extravagant courtship ritual, the birds leap into the air, bow, skip, and hop, as part of what is known as their ëmating dance.í They typically mate for life, and once paired, become aggressive and chase fellow members out of their assumed territories. Dancing continues throughout the year, reinforcing pair bonds, serving as a release valve for various types of stress and enhancing the motor skills of chicks.î
Other people taking part in the local crane count were Tim Pattrin, Freeburg; Tim Collins and Clark Van Galder, La Crosse; and Amy Cordry and Sheila Cunningham, Winona.
For more information on the Houston County Crane count or the Midwest Crane Count, contact Cooney at
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