{"id":6643,"date":"2012-11-25T03:55:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-25T10:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6643"},"modified":"2025-02-25T07:03:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T13:03:06","slug":"sandhill-crane-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/25\/sandhill-crane-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandhill Crane at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Sandhill Crane image was taken last year at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> in southwestern Montana. During the summer months the calls of the Sandhills echo across the Centennial Valley which is a prime nesting area for these large birds.<\/p>\n

\"SandhillSandhill Crane at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/320, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or called in<\/span><\/p>\n

A ten million year old crane fossil from the Miocene period was found in Nebraska which is identical in structure to modern Sandhills. Although that fossil record has been disputed\u00b9<\/span> the oldest unequivocal Sandhill Crane fossil is 2.5 million years old, over one and a half times older than the earliest remains of most living species of birds making them the oldest known surviving bird species.<\/p>\n

So, each time we see or hear Sandhill Cranes we are listening to and looking at a real living fossil. The cranes still follow the same ancient migration routes too.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Sandhill Crane photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

\u00b9<\/span> Update, the 10 million year old fossil is believed to be that of a Crowned Crane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, each time we see or hear Sandhill Cranes we are listening to and looking at a real living fossil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140794,"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":[1513,27,223,12,608,450],"tags":[4955,4004,4259,4021,3823,3132,1987,610,4954,4518,2315,5434,4095],"class_list":["post-6643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-sandhill-cranes","tag-2-5-million-years-old","tag-adult","tag-antigone-canadensis","tag-bird-photography","tag-crane","tag-cranes","tag-living-fossil","tag-marshes","tag-miocene-period","tag-sandhill-crane","tag-summer-3","tag-valley","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-montana-mia-mcpherson-4506.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1J9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55934,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/04\/adult-sandhill-crane-at-the-edge-of-a-summer-storm-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":6643,"position":0},"title":"Adult Sandhill Crane At The Edge Of A Summer Storm In Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was drawn to this photo because of the light on the Sandhill Crane and the grasses it was foraging in plus how that contrasts with the dark shadows on the mountains behind the bird.","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":"Sandhill Crane at the edge of a storm, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, 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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, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Sandhill Crane at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4808.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-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sandhill-crane-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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