Phil and Tweeters,

I checked some key references (Birds of BC, Vol. 2 and Birds of Canada)
concerning the subspecies of Sandhill Crane nesting in coastal BC.

Some ornithologists recognize 3 subspecies of Sandhill Crane nesting in
Canada and Alaska: The Lesser Sandhill or Little Brown Crane (Grus
canadensis canadensis), which is mainly a tundra nester; the Greater
Sandhill (G.c. tabida), which nests in the northern USA and southern Canada;
and a third subspecies, G.c. rowani, which nests in between the other two
species (e.g. in the southern boreal forest).

Other ornithologists recognize only the Lesser and Greater Sandhills, and
include rowani in the Greater Sandhills.

If you recognize only the two subspecies, the Queen Charlotte Island birds
definitely belong in the Greater subspecies. However, The Birds of B.C.
notes that the Queen Charlotte birds (as well as those nesting near
Vancouver, BC) fit the rowani subspecies better than the tabida (Greater)
subspecies. They are NOT Lesser Sandhills.

Of interest, the Birds of BC claims that about 3500 Sandhills migrate
through southern BC and western WA, and that about half of these are Lesser
Sandhills from Alaska. So if you see some crane flocks where some birds
appear larger than others, you may be seeing two subspecies in the same
flock.

Good luck and good birding,

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of
vogelfreund at comcast.net
Sent: October-07-07 7:04 PM
To: TWEETERS
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Origin of Western WA Sandhill Cranes

Any idea what subspecies of Sandhill Cranes are involved as Western WA
migrants? The Queen Charlottes seem too far north to have Greater Sandhills.

Way back when, when I saw a small flock of Sandhills flying from along the
Chuckanut shore and flying past Blanchard Hill (October), they looked to be
smallish, with quick wing beats (until they started soaring). I had the
impression that they were Lesser Sandhills. They were smaller than, for
example, the large Sandhills I once saw flying near the Texas coast.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA


-------------- Original message ----------------------


From: "Wayne Weber" <contopus at telus.net>
> Gene and Tweeters,
>
> As far as I know, there are no Sandhill Cranes currently breeding on
> Vancouver Island. (There used to be, but these small populations
disappeared
> many years ago, probably because of too much development and disturbance.)
> However, there are fair numbers (hundreds?) of Sandhill Cranes that breed
on
> the Queen Charlotte Islands and on a couple of large islands on the
central
> mainland coast of BC. There are large areas of boggy habitats on the
> Charlottes which are good habitat for breeding Sandhills. This is probably
> the origin of most of the Sandhill Cranes seen in transit in western WA,
> although some of them may come from farther north in Alaska.
>
> As for the birds seen migrating over the Puget Sound area-- even if there
> are only a few dozen in total, there are too many to all come from the
> Greater Vancouver area. (We have probably only about 6 to 8 breeding pairs
> in Pitt Meadows and Burns Bog.) We regularly see groups of up to 25
Sandhill
> Cranes in late September along the west side of Burns Bog. It seems likely
> that some of these cranes, as well as those seen migrating in the Puget
> Sound area, are also from the Queen Charlotte Islands.
>
> Of course, we don't know for sure where these birds are coming from unless
> some of them are banded-- and I don't believe anyone has tried to do this.
>
> Wayne C. Weber
> Delta, BC
> contopus at telus.net

>
>
>
>