65° 0 0

Our Sandhill Cranes Are Back!

Our Sandhill Cranes Are Back!

Last Updated: November 14, 2021 by Kristine Rivers | Nature, Birding


As Julie Ann Brown, Executive Director of Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, is fond of saying, we don’t get a lot of Sandhill Cranes here on the Island in winter but we’re extremely proud of the ones we have! I’m excited to report that our Sandies (as we affectionately call them) have begun arriving in small flocks over the last week or so. Soon we’ll have a few hundred of these elegant birds over-wintering with us, taking advantage of our milder climate and plentiful food resources.

Sandhill Cranes photo by Barbara Rabek
Sandhill Cranes Photo credit Barbara Rabek

Like most cranes, Sandies are monogamous and mate for life, spending 20-30 years together year-round, so it’s likely that many of our winter visitors have been returning here year after year for decades. Standing nearly 4-feet tall, with red crowns on top of their heads, they are hard to miss if you know where to look. One of their favorite foraging areas on the Island is on the grounds of Scholes International Airport, which you can view easily from Stewart Road. Locals also enjoy watching them from the deck of Tin Cups Caddy Shack, where you can relax with a beverage or two while birding.

Sandhill Cranes. Photo credit Kerrie Highley
Sandhill Cranes Photo credit Kerrie Highley

If you’re like us and just can’t get enough of Sandhill Cranes, join us for Holiday with the Cranes!

For a unique holiday experience, spend a wild weekend in Galveston celebrating the return of the Island’s Sandhill Cranes at , Dec. 11 – 12, 2021. The weekend is chock-full of indoor and outdoor nature activities combined with the ambience and warm hospitality of historic Galveston Island!

Holiday with the Cranes is presented by the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, a membership organization that connects people with Galveston’s natural environment.

#BirdGalveston


SPONSORED CONTENT

Luxury Vacation Rentals Available

Beachtown Vacation Rentals
Luxury vacation rental properties in the Beachtown community, located on the eastern tip of Galveston Island. Visit Website

Beautiful Clean Vacation Rentals

Soar Vacation Rental Services
Spanning east to west, Soar Vacation Rental Services is your local, award-winning rental company. Visit Website

Kristine Rivers

Kristine Rivers founded Birding for Fun in 2015, and is a popular tour guide and speaker whose enthusiasm for nature is contagious. A lifelong birder, she has been an area leader for the Brazoria Columbia Bottomlands Christmas Bird Count since 2011, and has been President of the Texas Master Naturalist Cradle of Texas chapter since January 2017.

Kristine Rivers
2021-11-15T08:17:33-06:00

This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.

This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.