Crop-destroying Sandhill crane will be studied in Sudbury-Manitoulin
'They're like little velociraptors running around in their fields eating grains,' biologist says
The Sandhill crane is a big nuisance for many farmers in northeastern Ontario. The birds feed on all kinds of crops, from corn to potatoes.
That's why biologist Chris Sharp is attaching transmitters to some of the giant birds to see exactly what crops they are migrating to, when and for how long.
Jointly funded by the Canadian Wildlife Service and the University of Waterloo, Sharp says the information will help farmers figure out how to deal with the birds.
"They are pretty messy eaters unfortunately," Sharp said. "If they would just eat the entire potato it probably wouldn't be such a big deal, but what seems to happen is they pull the potato up, poke it a few times and it rolls off the mound."
"And instead of continuing on that potato they just grab another one."
The birds tend to congregate in the spring, just after corn crops have been planted, Sharp said.
"The cranes go into the field and will pick out the new seed or the newly emerging corn shoots," he said.
"And in northeastern Ontario, like in Timmins, New Liskeard, Matheson all the way to Quebec, for example, they're in standing cereal crops and they trample a lot of the crop there."
"There's definitely significant economic loss."
Sharp says even though Sandhill Cranes can be a nuisance, they are also a fascinating creature.
"They're like little velociraptors running around in their fields eating grains," Sharp said. "They're almost prehistoric when you look up close at them. They have these big, beautiful eyes that — they're quite the thing to behold."
Sharp says the transmitters are the size of a white school eraser and are powered by three solar panels.
Researchers hope to be able to collect data from the birds for three to five years.