One of my birding stops today in Milwaukee County was checking out a reported Sandhill Crane on a nest. From a distance I watched a Sandhill Crane on the nest and on a few occasions the bird stood up and rolled the eggs over. I have never seen this before, it was very exciting to watch. Two birds have been rotating sitting on the eggs, I only saw one today. Rolling over the eggs was one thing but then the bird has to get comfortable in sitting back on the eggs after rolling. It took a couple of times to get comfy after the rolling over was done. Cranes roll the egg over as it serves to distribute the heat evenly and prevent the egg membrane from sticking to the shell. I heard this is the second try for this couple to try for young as the first attempt the eggs were washed away from flooding. It was a beautiful June day with cool temps to start the day, some sun came mid-morning. Images were taken on June 7, 2020.
The eggs…
Sitting back on the nest and eggs…
Sandhill Crane sitting on the nest…
Rolling over the eggs…
Standing tall, on the nest, like taking a break I would say…
A little preening…
More rolling of the eggs….
Sitting back on the nest and eggs…
The eggs…the second one is a little hard to see…
Just another shot, sitting on the nest with eggs…
