Blowing In The Wind

by Janice Pariza

Title

Blowing In The Wind

Artist

Janice Pariza

Medium

Photograph - Photography Art

Description

A lone Sandhill Crane has it's feathers blown in the cold winter Colorado wind in Delta.
The primary nesting areas for the Rocky Mountain Population of Greater Sandhill Cranes include Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Routt, and Rio Blanco Counties. However, in the last 20 years very small numbers of cranes have been found nesting in Mesa County, western Montrose County, and more recently in Delta County. Nesting may also be occurring in Gunnison County. It’s likely that other nesting locations are known and will be reported as crane populations continue to expand in Colorado.

In the spring, as traditional nesting grounds begin to thaw, pairs of Colorado cranes scatter from staging areas and disperse to nesting territories, which are areas of habitat that are defended against other nesting cranes. Upon settling into a territory, new nest construction commences or annual repairs on old nests begin in earnest. Nests, which are constructed on the ground and usually surrounded by water, are typically composed of small twigs and branches, but grasses and sedges are used as nesting material as well. During the nesting season, cranes tend to be very secretive, not willing to divulge the location of their carefully hidden nests. However, in recent years, cranes are becoming less wary and nests are being found in relatively close proximity to homes and ranches in Routt and Moffat Counties.

Cranes select sites that are almost always closely associated with water. Willow-lined streams or beaver ponds are preferred sites in Colorado. Studies conducted by managers and biologists with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (now Colorado Parks and Wildlife) show that about 50 percent of the nests are associated with North America’s largest rodent, the beaver. Crane nests are constructed on beaver lodges, beaver dams or on grassy hummocks in and around the ponds. A few nests have been documented in upland areas, often in sagebrush but close to water sources. Some nest sites in Colorado have been occupied almost continuously for 25-30 years or longer.
Cranes spend a large amount of time on the ground. Muscular thighs and strong bones support the crane’s long, scaly, gray-black legs. The feet, with three primary toes, are extremely powerful and tipped with impressively sharp claws. They are formidable weapons for protection against predators. The backward facing toe, called the hallux, is rudimentary and only about one inch long, which makes gripping branches and perching in trees impossible. An adult crane on the ground can effectively defend newly hatched colts from predatory coyotes, foxes, weasels, ravens, golden eagles, and raccoons. The extremely powerful bill is also used for defense.
Greater Sandhill Cranes were part of Colorado’s prehistoric ecology for thousands, and perhaps millions of years prior to the first appearance of humans. Depending on the environmental conditions existing in a given geological era, crane occurrence and distribution across the rugged Colorado mountain landscape surged and ebbed in relationship to temperatures and the presence or absence of glacial ice sheets. At times, glaciers filled the mountain valleys leaving the habitat incapable of supporting nesting cranes. At other times, the mountain valleys were very similar to the present day and unison calls echoed in the aspens as pairs of cranes returned to ancient nesting territories.

The same sandhills we know today were foraging, nesting, and rearing chicks alongside the pre-historic megafauna that dominated Colorado’s wildlife during the late Pleistocene Period. Some of these now extinct species include camel, ground sloth, mammoth, mastodon, long-horned bison, dire wolf, and short-faced bear.

Prior to recorded history, little is known about crane populations in Colorado. A few rock art petroglyphs and pictograph panels provide a glimpse into how Native Americans may have perceived, potentially with reverence, the presence of cranes. Archaeological studies in the Four Corners area have revealed the existence of sandhill crane bones in cliff dwellings and other sandstone ruins such as those found at Mesa Verde National Park.

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Uploaded

February 14th, 2017

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