REGINA — A sandhill crane has been turning heads at Wascana Centre since April, refusing to follow the usual migration patterns and remaining in the area for months.
Sandhill cranes are commonly seen across Saskatchewan, especially during migration, but it’s unusual to see one lingering in the same spot for such an extended period.
Megan Lawrence, director of rehabilitation at Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre, said wildlife experts suspected the sandhill crane had a minor injury to its left wing.
“We believed at the time the injury prevented it from migrating in the spring.”
In an attempt to capture the bird, the Wildlife Rescue Society of Saskatchewan has made numerous tries with no success.
Recently, Salthaven has become aware of untrained individuals attempting to capture the crane.
“The birds are about four feet tall, and they’re strong, they’re large. They’ve got long, pointy, sharp beaks that could do some damage [to people] if they felt threatened.”
Lawrence added the bird hasn’t appeared to pose any threat to people and seems to be minding its own business.
“Birds tend to bulk up before migration so that they can sustain themselves.”
“So the more times that he’s spooked into running or flying off, he’s using up valuable calories that he needs to make migration.”
If the crane remains in the area through winter, Lawrence said additional attempts will be made to capture it.
“We would give the crane as much time as it needed to recover if a recovery is possible.”
If the bird cannot be safely released into the wild, Salthaven would co-ordinate with the Ministry of Environment on next steps.
Comments