Hearkening back to the Pleistocene epoch, symbolizing good fortune, fidelity, and longevity, the distinctive large winged, long necked, and long-legged sandhill cranes with crimson foreheads are known throughout the world for their mesmerizing courtship dances, their calling, oftentimes heard for three miles away and described as bulging, rattling, or croaking, their longevity, shyness, and being the most unapproachable of the long-legged fraternity. They are also known for their aerial flight maneuvering. They often gain altitude by circling tightly in rising thermal air currents when conditions permit. When sufficient altitude is reached, they glide on extended wings as they descend to an adjacent thermal, where they are again lifted high to repeat the process.

The courtship dance, demonstrated every spring, begins with the bird extending its wings, then leaping into the air and may also throw sticks or other nesting material, and upon landing bows its heads and then struts around stiff-legged, all to impress his mate. If no admirer happens to be available, it will sometimes dance to its own shadows. They have at least ten different types of dances and as many calls.

Once upon a time, before the Grand Canyon had been carved out of its rock, an extraordinary bird walked and flew the earth in the area we now call Nebraska. They are the most ancient bird species on earth since primordial times, arising as a group more than 60-million years ago. Eminent ornithologist Paul Johnsgard explains it this way: “Cranes are among the oldest of living bird groups, and the sandhill crane in particular is the oldest currently existing bird species.” They are described by others as ancient fossils.