Sandhill cranes - I was surprised to find them in Alaska

One of two Sandhill cranes I saw while visiting Anchorage, Alaska.

It was September 18, 2025, and I was hiking along the Coastal Trail in Anchorage when I saw a pair of sandhill cranes foraging along the beach at low tide.  Their range map shows that Anchorage is in their breeding area, but I would have thought they would have headed south at this point in the year.  They winter in Texas, parts of California, and Florida, where it would have been much warmer.  As it was, the temperature never got above 10° C.  

Research on the subject that Cranes in Alaska migrate from mid-September to early October and fly to California.  I guess it is not unusual to see them at this time of year.  They can fly about 350 miles per day.  The trip is about 2100 miles in one direction.  It would take about a week of flying to cover that distance, but probably two weeks given the need to rest and wait for good weather. 

This is the fourth time I have seen Sandhills.  I was modestly close to them; they weren't too worried about me as they were in the middle of a large intertidal zone while I was up on a nearby hill.  I talked to someone on the trail who was from Montana about seeing the birds.  He said that there are thousands of them in Montana where he lives.  I have never seen more than two together at once.

The other interesting thing about seeing the birds was that they were in a marine ecosystem.  I have seen them inland in freshwater systems.  It seems that they are comfortable in any open area where they can search for food, be it a field, lake shore, or ocean setting.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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