here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Sandhill Crane photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My life is great whenever I can photograph a pair of Sandhill Cranes wherever I find them and yesterday I had these beauties in my viewfinder. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,450,26,2486],"tags":[4259,3823,3132,11563,4070,1124,4062,2138,2139,4518,4949,165],"class_list":["post-36621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-sandhill-cranes","category-utah","category-wayne-county","tag-antigone-canadensis","tag-crane","tag-cranes","tag-farmlands","tag-female","tag-field","tag-male","tag-mates","tag-pair","tag-sandhill-crane","tag-sandhills","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-pair-mia-mcpherson-6656.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9wF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40422,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/09\/new-genus-for-sandhill-cranes\/","url_meta":{"origin":36621,"position":0},"title":"New Genus for Sandhill Cranes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Another change that has officially occurred was that Sandhill Cranes were moved from the genus Grus to Antigone.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mated pair of Sandhill Cranes in flight, Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sandhill-cranes-flight-bicknell-mia-mcpherson-6669.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sandhill-cranes-flight-bicknell-mia-mcpherson-6669.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sandhill-cranes-flight-bicknell-mia-mcpherson-6669.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/sandhill-cranes-flight-bicknell-mia-mcpherson-6669.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111112,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/13\/communing-with-sandhill-cranes\/","url_meta":{"origin":36621,"position":1},"title":"Communing With Sandhill Cranes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been thinking a lot about Sandhill Cranes recently so I am going back in time to nine years ago today when I photographed them in Wayne County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area"","block_context":{"text":"Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sandhill-cranes-flight-mia-mcpherson-6853.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sandhill-cranes-flight-mia-mcpherson-6853.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sandhill-cranes-flight-mia-mcpherson-6853.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/sandhill-cranes-flight-mia-mcpherson-6853.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51228,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/12\/sandhill-cranes-in-flight-during-spring-migration\/","url_meta":{"origin":36621,"position":3},"title":"Sandhill Cranes In Flight During Spring Migration","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The last couple of times I have gone to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and further north of there I have been so happy to hear and see, even if from a long distance, the return of our Sandhill Cranes.","rel":"","context":"In "Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area"","block_context":{"text":"Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bicknell-bottoms-wildlife-management-area\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Sandhill Cranes in flight during spring migration, Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pair-flight-mia-mcpherson-6276.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pair-flight-mia-mcpherson-6276.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pair-flight-mia-mcpherson-6276.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/sandhill-cranes-pair-flight-mia-mcpherson-6276.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15842,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/16\/a-pair-of-sandhill-cranes-in-the-centennial-valley\/","url_meta":{"origin":36621,"position":4},"title":"Pair of Sandhill Cranes in the Centennial Valley","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to find quite a few Sandhill Cranes in the Centennial Valley of Montana last week and this pair was close enough to photograph.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mated pair of Sandhill Cranes at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-pair-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-pair-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-pair-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-pair-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45474,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/11\/i-adore-sandhill-cranes\/","url_meta":{"origin":36621,"position":5},"title":"I Adore Sandhill Cranes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though I can't see them with my eyes as I write this I can imagine Sandhill Cranes waiting for the first rays of the sun to reach the marshes where they spent the night.","rel":"","context":"In "Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area"","block_context":{"text":"Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management 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![\"Pair](\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-pair-mia-mcpherson-6656.jpg\" "\\"Pair")
Pair of Sandhill Cranes in Wayne County, Utah (male on the left, female on the right)\u00a0 – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1600, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n