Passing Through Sandhill Cranes Rest In Eastern Washington On Their Way Between California And Alaska

Of all the winged creatures that migrate through the Columbia Basin, sandhill cranes are the most graceful, and the most mysterious.

Every spring and autumn these grand soarers touch down in Eastern Washington “staging areas,” as their stopover places along the ancient flyways are called.

They announce their arrival with cries that can be heard for miles.

It’s a sound that “takes you back in time,” said Ron Friesz, a biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife in Ephrata for 24 years.

“Their calling is unique, it’s such a pure nature sound, that once you know it you identify it immediately,” he said.

More than 20,000 sandhill cranes were in the Columbia Basin in October, Friesz said. At least that many have been passing through the region this spring.

More than 2,000 were in a single group recently on the west edge of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge south of Moses Lake.

“They come and go,” Friesz said, explaining that they’re here to feed and rest, and that their pattern of congregating is spread out on their migration. What we see here is only one of several sandhill crane populations; the largest of those populations migrates through the Platte River Region of Nebraska.

Strictly speaking, the cranes of Eastern Washington are classified as lesser sandhill cranes. They’re close relatives of the greater sandhill cranes that nest in the intermountain region of Oregon-Idaho-Nevada.

The greater sandhill crane stands taller, but the birds’ plumage and bearing is the same, Friesz said.

The lesser sandhill crane stands about 3 to 4 feet tall with a wingspan of about 6 feet; it weighs about 12 pounds. Friesz said the cranes are relatively long-lived, 20 to 30 years, but they reproduce slowly.

“The female usually lays two eggs, but once hatched, one of the young is often so dominating that the other one in the nest does not survive,” he said.

Lesser sandhill cranes winter in the Central Valley in California and nest in the far north, in Alaska and Siberia, according to Friesz.

Although some smaller bunches are occasionally seen elsewhere in the state, including Western Washington and the Cheney area, most come up from the staging area at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in the spring, and then fly right over the Tri-Cities to their staging areas in the Columbia Basin. From there, they fly over Ephrata and straight up the Okanogan, he said.

The cranes will mate as they come back to the basin in spring, Friesz said. They perform a courting dance common to all cranes, in which they face each other and half-jump, half-fly.

They feed and fly in groups of 50 to 200 birds. On land, they will congregate in groups of 4,000.

Friesz described the cranes as “opportunistic birds.”

“They’re omnivorous,” he said. “They’ll eat grub worms and even a mouse if they get a chance, and they’ll feed on wasted grain, and in corn stubble. What they really like is sprouts - that gets them in trouble with farmers sometimes when spring wheat is sprouting.”

But the damage the cranes cause to farms is minimal, especially when compared with that of geese, which can destroy a new-planted alfalfa field in hours, or ducks, which can gobble up a field-drying buckwheat crop in short order.

The cranes are highly regarded by most rural folks. Their flight and posture when they forage seldom fail to evoke a sense of awe.

“They’re like glider planes,” Friesz said. “They circle up and up in thermals until they catch a strong wind current. They’re exceptionally well adapted to soaring.”

The flocks of soaring birds are drawing flocks of birders as well.

While a bird watcher won’t get very close on foot, they can drive near the cranes.

“The sandhill cranes are definitely a favorite (with birders),” Friesz said. “Probably one of the best ways to watch cranes is looking at them from the road, because they’re fairly tolerant of vehicles.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HEAR THE CALL The ratcheting cry of sandhill cranes is among the most captivating sounds in nature. Hear it for yourself by calling Cityline. On a Touch-Tone phone, dial (509) 458-8800 (local in Spokane) or (208) 765-8811 (local in Coeur d’Alene). When you connect, press 9879. Cityline is a free service, although long-distance tolls apply for calls outside of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Rene Featherstone Yakima Herald-Republic Staff writer Rich Landers contributed to this story.