Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition

Presenters of the Yampa Valley Crane Festival

Sandhill Crane Nest Camera

Greater Sandhill cranes will return to the same general area every year to nest and typically build a nest in the same or similar spot. Nests are simple, mound-like platforms made of marsh plants, grasses and weeds piled on the ground in marshes or wet meadows. Sandhill cranes in Colorado usually lay two eggs in late April or early May and incubate these eggs for about 30 days. Both crane parents will help in incubating the eggs and caring for the young once they hatch. When the eggs hatch, sandhill crane chicks are able to see, are covered in down feathers, and are able to walk within a few hours. After about a day, the chicks will leave the nest with their parents.

Learn more about sandhill crane nesting by checking out our Nesting FAQs!

Athena and Rocky’s Nest

This nest was first discovered in 2020. We are unsure how old the parents are but to our knowledge 2020 was the first time they have nested in this area. In 2020, the parents were successful in hatching 2 eggs and raising both young past fledging (able to fly) and into the fall. In order to protect these nesting Sandhill Cranes, the specific location of this nest will remain private and cannot be disclosed, except that it is on private property in the Yampa Valley of Northwest Colorado.

In spring of 2021, we installed a nest camera at this nest and live-streamed the nest activity on our website. Here’s what some people had to say about our nest camera:

“It has been an amazing journey. Even my 7 year old grandson was involved by sharing one of the videos with his science class. They all loved it, especially his teacher!”
~Susan Morgan

“Thank you so much for providing this amazing experience!”
~Linda Johnson

“I very much enjoyed this journey with the beautiful Yampa Valley cranes.”
~Deborah Lind

“Thank you so much…..I have been borderline “obsessed” with this opportunity and occasionally checked in with Athena and Rocky during the night. Thanks to everyone who logged in with your observations. I will look forward to next year!”
~Susie Clark

Join us in April 2022 as we plan to go LIVE AGAIN with ROCKY and ATHENA!

2021 Nesting Season Summary

Watch the Nest Camera Highlights to see all the excitement from 2021 in short video clips!

Athena laid the 1st egg on April 15th and the 2nd egg on April 18th. Incubation started after the first egg was laid.

Athena and Rocky both took turns during the day to incubate the nest, but Athena always incubated at night. The Changing of the Guards occurred throughout the day.

The 1st chick hatched on May 18th in the afternoon. We are unsure if it was the 1st or 2nd egg that was laid. The other egg did not hatch.

During hatching, Rocky stayed on the nest all day. He left the nest with the chick to feed with Athena and the chick then went back to the nest to incubate the other egg while Athena roosted nearby with the chick. Finally, Rocky left the nest to help raise their one chick. The 2nd egg never hatched, there was a problem during development of the embryo that prevented the chick inside from developing.

Athena successfully defended the nest against multiple raccoon attacks and mink attacks.

Watch their entire 2021 nesting journey:

Photos of the chick during and after hatching (by Abby Jensen):

Other Birds Observed on the Nest Camera:

American crow (heard)
American goldfinch (heard)
American robin (heard)
Black-capped chickadee (heard)
Blue-winged teal
Canada goose
Chickadee (heard)
Cinnamon teal
Common merganser
Common yellow-throat (heard)
Gadwall
Great blue heron
Killdeer (heard)
Magpie
Mallard
Mourning dove (heard)
Northern Harrier (heard)
Red-shafted flicker
Red-tailed hawk
Red-winged blackbirds
Song sparrow (heard)
Sora (heard)
Virginia rail
Widgeon
Wilson’s snipe (heard)
Yellow-headed blackbirds

 

Mammals Observed on the Nest Camera:

Beaver
Muskrat
Mink
Raccoon
Mule deer

This live video feed was made possible through grants provided by the Yampa Valley Community Foundation and the WHILD fund. Internet access for live streaming is provided by Zirkel Wireless. Camera installation and setup were completed by Photon Syndicate. Discounted equipment was provided by Colorado Electric Supply.

ZIRKEL Wireless

Comments

  1. Chick #1 rather more visible at 19:15 for a bit when great lummoxy Papa stands up and lets the paparazzi (that’s us) get a good look at him/her and get the pictures for the morning papers…..
    Then Rocky settles back down to warm Egg and Chick and keep the curious out for awhile……or am I too anthropomorphic and sensationalist?

  2. At 19:13 mama stands up and one of the chicks is fully hatched. Yippee!

  3. Chick #1 is out the eggshell at 17:45. Rocky tore apart some of the eggshell and ate a piece of it. He is still incubating the other egg and keeping the newly hatched chick under him. The chick needs some time to dry out.

  4. Once the chicks hatch will the family stay near the nest and for how long?

    • The parents will stay near the nest and wait for the other egg to hatch (one parent will continue to incubate the other egg). After the second egg hatches or the cranes abandon the second egg if it takes too long and doesn’t hatch, the cranes will leave the nest. They may come back to the nest to roost (day or night) for the week following hatching, or they may leave the nest for good. Last year, this pair left the nest and didn’t return but stayed in the general area of the nest inside their territory.

  5. Rocky, the male, has been on the nest since this morning. Athena, the Mama Crane, came back recently, but Rocky continues to stay on the nest as one egg underneath him is pipping. The hatch was first noticed at 13:12 today and it could take up to 20 hours for the chick to fully emerge from the egg. Athena continues to stay near the nest but is out of camera view. Let’s hope the hatch goes smoothly!

    • Ah, good to know who is who. I was going on other comments when I first came on. Thank you for the update. I suppose we could all be sleeping when the first chick emerges.

  6. The egg on the right is now HATCHING!!! There is a small hole you can see in the egg when the crane stands up. And you can just see the beak coming out of the hole. Still a ways to go until the whole chick comes out of the egg.

  7. At 13:12 today, Mama stands and rotates the eggs. The egg on the right has a hole in it and I think I see the chick sticking its beak or a toe out of the hole.

    • At 2:30, she stands again, and I do see the hole with a little beak working at it! Yay!!!

    • At 2:35 Athena stands up and calls loudly for Rocky then checks hole in egg. You can see beak poking out. She then calls loudly for him again and nestles back down on the nest. Rocky has just arrived.

  8. Hi Erin! Clover and I are watching from Sweden! Thanks for all of your work on this – we have really enjoyed it. 🙂 (Come visit us sometime – we just saw the Great Crested Grebe courtship dance on our lake!)

  9. Cheers to Matthew! He got the camera up just in time for us to watch mom do a lot of calling. She then got up and rolled the eggs around. Dad showed up, inspected the eggs and settled down to incubate.

    The water seems to be getting quite high and very close to the nest. I hope the chicks hatch before the nest gets flooded.

  10. Whew! Thanks to the spotter, Erin, Nancy, camera tech(s) for getting back on line [pesky camera! at such a time!]. But “plus ça change” this morning, with change of guard about 8:20 am with Pa now settled in…..Get with it, Chickies!

  11. We are back up and running! We had an equipment failure last night- not the camera, but one of the connecting pieces that we had to fix. A special Thank You to Matthew who went out this morning to fix the issue.

  12. At 6:40 am on Tuesday 5/18/21, the female, Athena, is still sitting on the nest. We are still working to figure out why the camera is unresponsive and our technician is heading out to the camera area to check all the electronics. We thank you for your patience during this critical time.

    • I have been watching since the camera came back online. Is it aimed in the right directionor am I just missing the nest?

  13. It’s 6:15 am on Tuesday 5/18/21. We have been experiencing problems with the camera all night, and unfortunately, the live feed is still down as of last night. The camera is not responding, so we are sending out our technician this morning to assess the situation. We hope to get the live feed as soon as possible.

    As of last night, the female, Athena, was on the nest and still incubating her two eggs. We have a spotter going to check on the status of the nest this morning and will update you as quickly as we can. We are still hopeful the eggs will hatch. Yesterday the parents were softly purring to the eggs, and checking the eggs often, all behavior that you would expect just before hatching. Stay tuned! And thank you for your patience.

  14. Livestream seems to be out for the moment ?

    Have been watching from Belgium for a while.
    Learned a lot more about my favourite bird here, thanks !

    • Yes, the live-stream has been down all night. We have our crew working to get it back up and will keep you posted to our progress. Thanks for watching!

  15. 19:56 Birds change places with no vocalizing. Mom rolls the eggs and sits down to incubate. Can hear distant unison calls of another Crane pair.

  16. 16:58 No chick yet. Crane standing, rolled both eggs, back down to incubate.

  20. At 6:50am mama stands, rolls her two eggs and at 6:52am turns and settles back down. She continues to remain alert to the morning sounds peeking at the ground and often raising her head to look around.

  21. At 22:35 on 5/16 a small dark mammal lurched at mama crane (from lower right corner of video). Athena stood up, spread her wings and stabbed at the intruder. The entire encounter only lasted a few seconds but Athena didn’t settle back down on her eggs until 22:37. At 22:53 she continues to remain on alert although she keeps trying to rest.

    • Thanks for the scoop. At 22:35:23, it appears that a small mink bites the bustle and hangs on briefly. Whoa!
      Tom and Linda Litteral in Florida

      • Yes, that was definitely the mink that visited several nights ago. Looks like the mink jumped onto the bustle of the female, and as the female jumped up, the mink got thrown. Great catch- Barb!

  22. On 2021.05.16, at 20:45 there were sounds of sticks or twigs breaking. Then, a body of an animal, perhaps small like a raccoon, traveled from right to left across the screen in the foreground. The crane immediately went alert, and has been alert for almost 45 minutes. Can someone see what type of animal that was that came into the scene?

    • Trip, yes this was a raccoon. There is a group of 3 raccoons that live in the general area of the nest, so not sure which raccoon this was- if it had been one that had visited the nest before. Interestingly, the female, Athena, that was on the nest didn’t move off her eggs to deter it. Seems the raccoon didn’t bother her and went on its way. She did remain alert, as you say.

  23. 5.16.21 6:00am Sitting on the nest Athena vocalizes and quickly stands with wings spread as a raccoon comes from the south (right) into camera view. The raccoon retreats but she stays on alert and at 6:01 the raccoon quickly passes by on east side of the nest under her watchful gaze.

  25. I live in town and it’s wonderful to hear all these birds singing in the video, as opposed to traffic outside my house. Thanks so much!!