Why do we need to save our Sandhill Cranes?
Our Sandhill Cranes winter over in the Cosumnes floodplain and surrounding agricultural areas south of Sacramento. They have very specific habitat requirements. They utilize freshly cut or flooded rice and corn fields for roosting and feeding. Planned land use changes in their critical habitat zone threaten significant areas that fit this description. Further concentrations of the cranes in the remaining viable habitat will likely tax the ease of food acquisition and roosting site identification. Denser crane crowding could result in greater disease transmission.
