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Articles

Vol. 18 No. 2 (1987)

THE FIRST RECORD OF A FOUR-EGG CLUTCH FOR SANDHILL CRANES

Submitted
September 15, 2025
Published
April 1, 1987

Abstract

We determined clutch sizes in 815 Greater Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis tabida) nests in Oregon from 1966 through 1984. Of these, 744 (91.3%) nests contained two eggs, 67 (8.2%) one egg, 3 (0.4%) three eggs, and 1 (0.1%)—which we report on here—contained four eggs. The average clutch size was 1.92.

Three-egg clutches from Sandhill Cranes are rare, but there are records from Florida (Walkinshaw 1973), Idaho (Drewien 1973), Michigan (Walkinshaw 1973), Oregon (Littlefield 1981), and Wisconsin (Gluesing 1974).

References