Welcome to the Christy Yuncker Photo Journal.

This webpage and photo galleries developed from fascination with Sandhill Crane behavior. Since 1999, we have documented the behaviors of the same crane pair, from morning to sunset, through their Alaska nesting season.

colts 99-11

Crane stature and voices are arresting; their dancing is flashy and elegant. Cranes have long been venerated in many ancient cultures.

Cranes are long-lived and learn from experience. With each passing year, they progressively improve their survival skills. Only after Alaska cranes migrate north and south several times do they select their mates.

The bonded pair can reproduce for 15 years or more. They return in April to an ice-covered pond for a month of nesting and then three months of teaching young colts to forage, to dance, and to fly in time to escape the return of winter. We are particularly intrigued by nurturing, by social interactions, and by crane mental capacities.

Crane-watching helps us replace 21st century hubris with awe for the subtlety of evolutionary outcomes. It provides insights into our shared biological origins and increased respect for fragile global ecosystems.

Two blogs complement this site:

Please email us with your comments or questions.

Christy Yuncker and George Happ

                    All our photo galleries and blogposts are listed on the Sitemap.

  • Crane Festivals
  • Best crane books
  • Crane hyperlinks
  • Why this website?

Books on cranes that we recommend -

  • Johnsgard, Paul A [2011]. Sandhill and Whooping Cranes:  Ancient Voices over America's Wetlands. Lincoln, Nebraska: Bison Books, University of Nebraska Press.

  • Forsberg, Michael [2004]. On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes of North America.   Lincoln, Nebraska: Michael Forsberg Photography.

  • Didrickson, Betsy [2010]. The Quality of Cranes: A little book of crane lore. Baraboo, WI: International Crane Foundation.

  • Johnsgard, Paul A [1981]. Those of the Gray Wind: The Sandhill Cranes.   New York:, Doubleday.

  • Johnsgard, Paul A [1983]. Cranes of the World.   Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

  • von Treuenfels, Carl-Albrecht [2006]. The Magic of Cranes.   New York: Harry Abrams.

  • Crane Wu [2003]. The Propitious Crane.   (Text in Chinese and English).

  • Nigge, Klaus [2010]. Whooping Crane: Images from the Wild.   College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

  • Matthiessen, Paul [2001]. The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes.  New York: North Point Press.

Why this website?

After we moved from Vermont to 40 acres of taiga in Interior Alaska, we found that a pair of Sandhill Cranes had prior claim to our sphagnum/sedge/cranberry bog. Google satellite views of the habitat are shown on this website.

We have been privileged to watch these Goldstream Valley cranes for over a decade. This photojournal and the Alaska Sandhill Crane Blog grew from our acquaintance with the crane pair whom we know as Millie and Roy.

Cranes are statuesque, sometimes boisterous, and often secretive - iconic inhabitants of grasslands and marshlands in Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and North America. Year upon year, Alaska Sandhill Cranes fly thousands of miles, evading powerlines and shotguns and surmounting natural barriers, to reach their nest sites. In contrast to some non-migratory crane populations that become habituated to humans, most Alaska cranes are wild and wary.

Once at their summer destinations, Alaska cranes explore the surroundings, defend their territories, make nests and raise young, broadcast their presence over miles by resonant bugling, and interact at closer distances by soft purring and acrobatic dancing. With observations, photographs, and an evolutionary neuroscience pespective, we focus on:

  • the education of  crane colts in the wild,
  • information content of the signals that bind cranes to one another,
  • social structure within breeding neighborhoods and flocks, and
  • how they make decisions.

This website and its companion Blog are intended to be an information resource and, we hope, a catalyst for discussions of crane biology, bird behavior, and animal cognitive capacities. Please email us with your own observations and ideas so that we respond and share your insights on the web.

Thank you for making Nature an immediate part of your personal world view.

Christy Yuncker and George Happ

2011 events

  • April 26 - Millie and Roy return.
  • Late April - Dancing, feeding, mating, and exploring.
    Roy repeatedly tests nestbuilding at sites across the cranberry bog.
  • May 6 - Egg laid and nesting begins.

guide • March 2011
Sandhill Crane Display Dictionary

Order direct from Amazon.com  

Sniffing • October 2010
Crane pheromones?

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Photo Galleries

Crane biology
Hawks, owls, and eagles
Other birds
   • Birds in motion
   • Ducks, geese, grebes
   • Shorebirds
   • Perching birds
Mammals
   • Moose
   • Caribou and reindeer
   • Carnivores
   • Muskoxen and sheep
Collaborating artists

Karin Franzen fiber art

Nancy Hausle-Johnson tiles

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© 2011 Christy Yuncker Happ



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