North America: Research in the Field > Annual Midwest Crane Count > Counter's Information
Counter Information
As a Crane Count participant, you may have questions regarding sandhill cranes, need a new data sheet or want to review crane calls, etc. This section is your resource!
Remember, to participate in Crane Count you need to contact your County Coordinator to receive your materials and designated site.
We've provided a selection of Counter Necessities (see below) and Frequently Asked Questions. If you have additional questions, suggestions, or are interested in more information please send us an email at
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Happy Counting!
Counter Necessities
(The documents below are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
 Instructions In The Field
Data Sheet
Sandhill Crane Identification and Calls
Whooping Crane Identification and Calls
Updated County Coordinator Contact Information and County Meeting information coming soon.
The video below is used to familiarize volunteer counters with Sandhill Cranes and train those volunteers about the correct data collecting procedures. Real Player is required to play correctly. Real Player is a free download that you may obtain if you click here. The video is large and the download time will vary.
Crane Count Training Video
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| Frequently Asked Questions
If the weather is very poor on Count day, can or should I count on a different day?
How do I identify female vs. male sandhill cranes?
Will a pair give a unison call inflight?
Can cranes swim?
How can I tell the age of a crane?
Should I be concerned about turkey hunting taking place on Count Day?
Should I tally only the cranes I see, or the ones I hear too?
How do I create a new site?
Why didn't I get my Results?
If the weather is very poor on Count day, can or should I count on a different day?
In order to be consistent and avoid as much double-counting of cranes as possible, Crane Count needs to be held from 5:30am-7:30am Central Time on the single designated day in April. We don't just look at one year's results to assess long-term trends, but use several years' worth of data. So unless you count during the designated time, your observations cannot be included in the results.
How do I identify female vs. male sandhill cranes?
Just by looking at Sandhills Cranes, there is no definitive way to tell gender, as females and males look alike. Males tend be slightly larger than females, but that is not a consistent guideline. When cranes are paired, they share incubation and parenting duties. They also make a unison call, in which each bird has a part. For every one note of the male, the female makes two notes. The female tends to keep her head in a horizontal position, while the male's takes on a vertical posture.
Will a pair give a unison call inflight?
Not usually. Cranes make "flight calls" that allow the birds to locate their mates while flying. Because a flight call is often answered by the other member of the pair and because the calls are often repeated, they could be mistaken for unison calls, but are more like guard calls. Some of the ICF staff, who have watched cranes a great deal, have heard cranes unison call in flight only a few times.
Can cranes swim?
Yes. All cranes can swim, but adults avoid swimming unless necessary (they have no webbed feet to speak of, which makes swimming awkward and difficult). The chicks must swim to follow their long-legged parents through deeper wetlands, but they wade more and swim less as their legs get longer.
How can I tell the age of a crane?
In the field, there is no definitive way to age a crane more specifically than juvenile vs. adult. Juveniles do not begin to develop visible red patches until they are about a year old. From hatching until that point, juveniles are readily identifiable by the absence of the red patch on the head. Wild cranes may live to be 20-30 years of age. Even in captivity, it is nearly impossible to age cranes without detailed records.
Should I be concerned about turkey hunting taking place on Count Day?
It is best to be aware that often the Count coincides with turkey hunting season. Staying on public right-of-way and wearing visible clothing are two ways to improve safety. Turkey hunters tend to sit very still and imitate the calls of turkeys. As a result, it is not a good idea to imitate turkey calls, or attempt to locate a calling turkey. If you do intend on proceding on to private property, it is necessary for you to contact landowners. This would also be a great time to ask if there will be hunters afield, as they will probably be aware of it. It is best to follow the landowner's wishes and stay off if so told. It is most important to stay safe!
Should I tally only the cranes I see, or the ones I hear too?
There are a lot of times that cranes are more easily heard than seen, so, with care, try to tally both cranes seen and heard. Write down the direction from which you hear the crane(s), so that you do not record the same crane(s) multiple times if they are heard again later. If many cranes are calling together, it is difficult to say exactly how many there are. Do your best to estimate the amount.
How do I create a new site?
Talk to your County Coordinator if you would like to establish a new site. Perhaps you have cranes nesting on your land, or know of an area where you would like to count. Your Coordinator can check to see if the area is already covered by a site.
Why didn't I get my Results?
ICF tries to make sure that all participants receive their results, but sometimes there are problems. We take the addresses of participants directly off of the Data Sheets. If a participant is not listed on the Data Sheet, or the address information is incomplete (or illegible), the results cannot be sent. Make sure you thoroughly fill out your data sheet. Additionally, you can find the results from past years on our website.
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