Annual Midwest Crane Count

The International Crane Foundation will sponsor the 49th Annual Midwest Crane Count on
Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. More than 2,000 volunteer participants from
throughout Wisconsin and portions of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and
Minnesota will participate in the spring survey, which gathers information on the
abundance and distribution of cranes in the upper Midwest.

New volunteers interested in taking part in the survey should first contact their local
County Coordinator for instructions. The County Coordinator for Washburn County is Sage
Dunham of Hunt Hill Nature Center: 715-635-6543. Additional information on the crane
count can be found at cranecount.org.

The International Crane Foundation sponsors the Annual Midwest Crane Count to conserve
the world’s 15 species of cranes and the natural communities on which they depend.
Sandhill Cranes once nearly disappeared from Wisconsin, but the species has successfully
recovered and is slowly expanding into neighboring states.
Observations of Sandhill Cranes can lend insight into threatened crane species, including
the endangered Whooping Crane. There are now approximately 70 Whooping Cranes in
the reintroduced population in central Wisconsin, and crane counters may have a chance
of seeing one during the survey.