Ohio Crane Count
The Sandhill Crane as listed as threatened in Ohio. Sandhills can be quite secretive during their nesting season, and to better track Ohio’s breeding crane population, Ohio is expanding the Midwest Crane Count, a volunteer count, coordinated by the International Crane Foundation. The survey takes place for two hours on a designated Saturday morning in April. In 2021, Ohio conducted a pilot season in the counties of Geauga, Summit, Trumbull, Holmes, Wayne, and Wyandot counties. The effort documented 160 Sandhill Cranes in those 5 counties.
The count expanded into the additional counties starting in 2022 (see list below). The survey date this year will be April 15, 2023 from 6:30-8:30 am (i.e., 15 minutes before sunrise).
Ohio Division of Wildlife. To subscribe, go to wildohio.gov
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact a county coordinator, Tom Leiden, or Matthew Shumar (obcicoordinator@gmail.com). Time commitment is limited to your Saturday morning, the time it takes to scout your area, and a couple hours of virtual training. Birders of all abilities who can identify a sandhill crane can participate. A vehicle is also required. Participation in pairs is preferred.
Please see a list of Ohio county coordinators below.
For more information on sandhill crane identification and natural history, see:
https://savingcranes.org/species-field-guide/sandhill-crane/
https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/discover-and-learn/animals/birds/sandhill-crane
Video Tutorials
Additional Resources
eBird mobile checklist sharing tutorial – Geauga County Coordinator Matt Valencic put together this short illustrated tutorial explaining how to share each checklist with the International Crane Foundation – part of our data submission process.
eBird Essentials Course – Get up to speed on how the largest biological citizen-science program in the world can help you with your birding. The eBird community gathers more than 100 million bird sightings each year from people like you. Providing a powerful tool for motivated bird enthusiasts everywhere, eBird helps you find more birds and keep track of your sightings. Collectively, these sightings are now empowering a global scientific community and helping answer pressing conservation questions. Full of video tutorials, this free course will get you ready to confidently store and share your sightings with eBird.
eBird Breeding and Behavior Codes – For observations of Sandhill Cranes, we are requesting that volunteers use eBird’s Breeding and Behavior Codes whenever possible. This set of codes provides a standardized set of information about the species’ breeding behavior and give lend more support for the species nesting in that location. A complete list of codes and their definitions is available at the link above.
County Coordinators
*additional details coming soon*
| County | Coordinator | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Ashland | Christina Stump | |
| Columbiana | Chuck McClaugherty | |
| Delaware | Rich Bradley | |
| Erie | Emily Kuzmick | |
| Franklin | Jen Moore, Jason Parrish | |
| Fulton | TBD, contact Matthew Shumar at OBCI | |
| Geauga | Dan Best, Matt Valencic | |
| Hardin | Nancy Risner | |
| Holmes | Randy Carmel | |
| Knox | Cory Gratz | |
| Lake | Megan Hart | |
| Licking | Chance Patznick | |
| Logan | Troy Shively | |
| Lorain | Emily Kuzmick | |
| Lucas | Jay Wright | |
| Mahoning | contact Laura Kearns | |
| Marion | James Anderson | |
| Morrow | Kim Picard | |
| Ottawa | Mark Shieldcastle | |
| Pickaway | contact Laura Kearns | |
| Portage | Rebecca Rodhe, Holly Stoneberg | |
| Richland | TBD, contact Matthew Shumar at OBCI | |
| Sandusky | Mark Shieldcastle | |
| Stark | TBD, contact Matthew Shumar at OBCI | |
| Summit | Dwight Chasar | |
| Trumbull | Carole Babyak | |
| Wayne | David McConnell | |
| Williams | contact Laura Kearns | |
| Wyandot | contact Laura Kearns |
Survey block maps
Maps for each survey block are available below, organized by county. Click a county name to expand the page for a preview of the blocks within the county and a list of the target blocks within each county. The survey block system is the same as that used for the Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Ohio, and represents 1/6th of a U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute topographic map. Complete details on the Atlas block and survey design are available in the final book.
Ashland County
Columbiana County
Delaware County
Erie County
Franklin County
Fulton County
Geauga County
Interactive map:
Download the Geauga County KML HERE to use on Google Earth or the mobile app of your choice
Hardin County
Holmes County
Knox County
Lake County
Licking County
Logan County
Lorain County
Lucas County
Interactive map:
Download the Lucas County KML HERE to use on Google Earth or the mobile app of your choice
Mahoning County
Marion County
Morrow County
Ottawa County
Interactive map:
Download the Ottawa County KML HERE to use on Google Earth or the mobile app of your choice
Pickaway County
Portage County
Interactive map:
Download the Richlanda County KML HERE to use on Google Earth or the mobile app of your choice
Richland County
Sandusky County
Stark County
Summit County
Trumbull County
Interactive map:
Download the Trumbull County KML HERE to use on Google Earth or the mobile app of your choice
