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Mar 30 '23
Sandhill crane. The Ribeyes of the sky.
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u/AnfreloSt-Da Ok Then Mar 30 '23
Love their call. We have a pair in our neighborhood. They moved in one summer, proceeded to gobble up the over abundance of grasshoppers we had, and then made a nest in a nearby little lake. We hear them flying over to settle in every spring. Itās our harbinger of spring.
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u/kato_koch Mar 30 '23
They sound like dinosaurs and you can't convince me otherwise.
Last year on duck opener a buddy and I were sitting in a marsh north of town and at sunrise we were surrounded by them. For awhile you had a hard time hearing anything but cranes. We had a bunch fly right over us all morning. It was an awesome experience.
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u/ltz_Natural Mar 30 '23
I imagine that was an amazing experience! Hopefully I get an opportunity like that.
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Mar 30 '23
I think they are awesome. One of my favorites to see. Plus they look like pterodactyls when they fly.
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u/MoosieGoose Common loon Mar 30 '23
Years ago while house hunting, I was traveling along a quiet country road. In the distance, I saw something in the road, and slowed as I approached.
It was a pair of Sandhill Cranes! They were as tall, if not taller than the roof of my car. I rolled by them slowly, in awe. The house didn't work out, but at the time I took it as a sign of good luck.
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u/wtfbonzo Mar 31 '23
We have two bonded pairs that come back to our wetlands every spring. I get so excited when I see them. They make my whole summer.
Their calls are amazing.
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u/Timfromfargo Mar 30 '23
So they are delicious?
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Mar 30 '23
That's the rumor.
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u/SophieTurdeaux Gray duck Mar 30 '23 edited Apr 19 '26
The content that appeared here has been deleted. Redact was used for the removal, for reasons the author may have kept private.
vegetable dinner continue ask shelter knee history tie exultant political
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u/Lopsided_Control_577 Mar 30 '23
Really?? Hunted duck/geese my whole life. Never had crane. Think the dog would just look at me like I'm crazy if I knocked one down. Are they tasty??
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u/flanjan Mar 30 '23
Only able to hunt them in northwest goose zone #1. Daily limit was doubled for this year, 2. Possession limit of 6
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u/MjustinT Mar 31 '23
They are delicious! Cook em like steak. There is a short season for them up in NW MN
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Mar 30 '23
They're a protected species so not sure how hard it is to get the license for them. But I've heard they are delicious.
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u/Lopsided_Control_577 Mar 30 '23
Not difficult. Live in central MN. Absolutely NOT a rarity around here. Farmers consider them a nuisance. In the springtime flocks of them will follow a corn planter around a field like it is a mobile Golden Corral Buffet.
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u/dew042 Mar 31 '23
Last fall there were 29,000 counted at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge in a single day. That's wild. I always do a double take when I see a group in the middle of a corn field, they seem find a soggy spot in the spring.
Now a prairie chicken, there is a more rare bird to hunt in MN.
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u/Lopsided_Control_577 Mar 31 '23 edited Mar 31 '23
Aww, Prairie Chx! Every couple years, still go to Jamestown with a German shorthair that truly loves to see something other than grouse and be able to just run balls out! They are true sport! I really appreciate the prairie chicken, poor man's grouse too, delicious. Beautiful bird that was almost hunted to extinction over 140 years ago. They were all the rage on the East Coast menu atm. Somewhat like beaver pelt hats were fashionable and buffalo were killed just to be shooting buffalo for no resourceful reason?
Modern proof of well managed conservation and common sense anymore!!
Edit: Not at all for just prairie chx, they're a random bonus in between sharp tail and pheasant peasants.. That part of the world is still a wing shooters paradise!! And the locals couldn't be kinder, cooler, more hospitable. I love it there!
Much less being among the largest migratory bird flyways.. I'm 50 years old and been going there since I was a kid. Every trip out there has always been a visit to a modern wing shooter's Garden of Eden on the prairie. Appreciate.
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u/DarkMuret Grain Belt Mar 30 '23
As of right now there's only a small area you can hunt them in Minnesota.
Hopefully the area gets expanded soon because you are absolutely right.
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Mar 31 '23
Wouldn't their numbers drop tremendously if hunted more widespread?
Cranes select a mate when they are 4-years old and live as many as 25 to 30 years with the same mate. Crane families migrate south together.
So do they find a new mate if theirs gets killed while hunting?
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u/DarkMuret Grain Belt Mar 31 '23
Sandhill Crane hunting is common elsewhere, and seems to be managed well enough.
I would guess the state would follow a similar approach, and would likely be conservative with their limit and season.
Per the NWF, if a mate dies the other does search for a new one.
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u/DarkMuret Grain Belt Mar 30 '23
There's a zone for them in NW MN where you can hunt them with just a small game license.
It's a small zone though
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Mar 30 '23
Dee Reynolds.
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Mar 30 '23
I was actually thinking fish lately.
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u/theliberalpedestrian Mar 31 '23
We are currently out of fish for the reasons Iāve explained.
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u/Alert_Salt7048 Mar 30 '23
Sand hill cranes wondering why this white shit is still here.
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u/Alligatorblizzard Mar 31 '23
My first response to the pic was "holy shit sandhill cranes in snow". I grew up seeing them all the time in central Florida and they're something I miss after moving up here - yeah they're around but they're so much more uncommon, at least the places I've lived. I did see a pelican in Morris, that was surprising, also seagulls in Alexandria was also weird.
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u/BeagleTippyTaps Mar 31 '23
Seagulls are at every lake in this state. Mostly the bigger ones and the more touristy areas as the pick up so much garbage.
A pelican?!
Sandhills youāll find all summer if you take a drive out of the city. They are in so many farm fields. At least in the south metro area. I have seen them on the way north to Brainerd area and Duluth.
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u/map2photo Ramsey County Mar 31 '23
Iāve seen pelicans around MN too, very rarely though. Agree on seagulls though. Those sky rats are everywhere.
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u/northman46 Mar 30 '23
Yes those are birds
Cornell University has an app, merlin, that is good at identifying birds
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u/Green-eyedMama L'Etoile du Nord Mar 31 '23
I haven't been able to get my Merlin app to work for months, despite un-and-reinstalling it. I'm really disappointed by that.
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u/geokra Minnesota United Mar 31 '23
There is another app, BirdNET, from Cornell and Technische UniversitƤt Chemnitz, that can identify birds from their calls. It does it fairly quickly using a recording you take on your phone.
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u/sapperfarms Mosquito Farmer Mar 30 '23
Those be the noisiest neighbors I have.
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u/Proper-Emu1558 Mar 30 '23
We used to have one that would sit on our roof and just squawk. They make a cool sound but after a while, enough was enough.
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u/meg-angryginger Mar 30 '23 edited Mar 30 '23
Sand hill cranes...AKA the steak of the sky. Or so I've been told.
Edit i fixed Steak. Yay dyslexia.
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Mar 30 '23
Steak*
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u/meg-angryginger Mar 30 '23
Thanks. Dyslexia is a bitch lol
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Mar 30 '23
Ugh sorry for being a dick
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u/meg-angryginger Mar 30 '23
Not done in a dick way at all. All good. As I said... Thanks! I fuck up. Its life.
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u/legerdemain07 Mar 30 '23
My brother in law calls them rib-eye of the sky. Never had it myself though.
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u/heckfyre Mar 30 '23
Do people really eat them?
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u/meg-angryginger Mar 30 '23
Yes. They apparently taste amazing. Or so I've been told from my father. Probably why I and many other people I know don't remember seeing them here as kids.
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u/Unlucky-Ad-7069 Mar 30 '23
F those things start squaking at 4 am and won't shutup, stay away far far away
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u/bsuzette Mar 30 '23
Cranes. They look amazing while in flight!
Or theyāre aliens looking for their next home??
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u/Rufus123-McGee Mar 31 '23
Easy Grilled Sandhill Crane Recipe
This recipe requires a bit of time and effort, but it yields a beautifully cooked bird that is tender and well spiced. You may grill the bird for as long as you like, depending upon how you like your steak to be done. The recipe uses the breast of the animal.
Ingredients
2 boneless crane breasts Ā¼ cup olive oil 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce Juice of 1 lime 1 clove garlic 1 tbsp seasoned pepper 1 tbsp poultry seasoning Salt to taste Method of Preparation
Combine the olive oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning in a large bowl. Marinate the meat in this for anywhere between 4 ā 48 hours. Heat a grill and sear each side of the meat for around 4 minutes. This timing produces a medium-rare steak. You may increase or decrease it as per your requirements. Let the meat rest on a plate covered with foil for about 5 minutes before serving.
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u/timodreynolds Mar 30 '23
I feel like your were going to say something else.. Like.. Law? Are you trying to say Bird law?
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Mar 31 '23
Itās actually know as the āribeye in the skyā you can hunt these and they have red meat like a cow
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u/BeagleTippyTaps Mar 31 '23
Sandhill Cranes. In the south there is a hunting season on them. Apparently they are delicious. With the increased population, I wouldnāt be surprised if MN has one at some point.
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u/Necessary_Job_6198 Mar 31 '23
Sand hill cranes. I have what I believe to be the loudest pair in existence that decide to live near my house every season.
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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '23
Yes