• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Grus canadensis (Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International 2021) was previously moved to the genus Antigone (del Hoyo & Collar 2014), having previously been included in Grus (Cramp & Simmons 1977-1994, AERC TAC 2003).
Nominate, rowani and tabida may form a cline, with gradual changes in morphology, and random pairing among them; these three intergrade along limits of their ranges. Subspecies tabida subdivided into five populations, among which morphological differences are noted, but not analysed in taxonomic terms. Subspecies rowani sometimes considered undiagnosable, but probably separable (Johnson, Austin & Shaffer 2005). Validity of pulla has been questioned; based mainly on colour differences from pratensis, but remnant population (in Mississippi) was probably more widespread in the past, and likely to have intergraded with pratensis. Six subspecies recognized.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2021. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	33,500,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	4,530,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	450000-550000 mature individuals	poor	inferred	2011
Population trend	increasing	-	estimated	-
Generation length	12.04 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The population is inferred to number 670,000-830,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2020), which roughly equates to 450,000-550,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species has been undergoing a large, significant increase at an average rate of 5% per year between 1970 and 2019 (Rosenberg et al. 2019; Partners in Flight 2020). The population in North America has increased by >600% over the past three generations (Pardieck et al. 2018). The population in Cuba is stable (Wetlands International 2020).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bermuda (to UK)	extant	vagrant				yes
Canada	extant	native		yes		yes
China (mainland)	extant	vagrant
Cuba	extant	native	yes
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	vagrant
Greenland (to Denmark)	extant	vagrant
Ireland	extant	vagrant
Japan	extant	native
Mexico	extant	native			yes
Netherlands	extant	vagrant
Russia	extant	native		yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
South Korea	extant	native
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extant	vagrant
Taiwan, China	extant	vagrant
United Kingdom	extant	vagrant
USA	extant	native	yes	yes	yes	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Russia (Asian)	Kolyma delta
Russia (Asian)	Lower Anadyr lowlands
Russia (Asian)	Kanchalan river basin
Russia (Asian)	Meechkyn spit and adjacent plain
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK)	North, Middle and East Caicos Ramsar Site
Canada	Beaverhill Lake
Canada	Douglas Lake Plateau
Canada	Queen Maud Gulf
Canada	Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area
Canada	Quill Lakes
Canada	Luck Lake
Canada	Galloway and Miry Bay
Cuba	Cienaga de Lanier y Sur de la Isla de la Juventud
Cuba	Ciénaga de Zapata
Cuba	Gran Humedal del Norte de Ciego de Ávila
USA	Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area and surrounding areas
USA	Rowe Sanctuary
USA	Upper Tanana River Valley
USA	Willcox Playa /Cochise Lakes
USA	Whitewater Draw State Wildlife Area
USA	Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
USA	Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
USA	Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex
USA	Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge
USA	Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area
Mexico	Laguna de Bustillos
Russia (Asian)	Chaun delta
Russia (Asian)	San-Yuryakh
Russia (Asian)	West Chaun plain
Mexico	Complejo de Humedales del Noroeste de Chihuahua
Mexico	Laguna de Mexicanos
Russia (Asian)	Kytalyk
Russia (Asian)	Yana delta

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Primary form used	Life stage used	Source	Scale	Level	Timing
Food - human	-	-			non-trivial	recent
Pets/display animals, horticulture	-	-		international	non-trivial	recent

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Grus canadensis. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/sandhill-crane-grus-canadensis on 11/12/2023.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org on 11/12/2023.