I have seen Blue Heron many times, but only once up close and personal while fishing a shoreline. That day I saw movement near the shoreline and the Blue Heron from what I could tell was standing about two feet off the bank in 3 feet of water. The only part of this blue heron moving was its head and that was extremely slow.

This big bird stood motionless, then with incredible speed the heron’s head shot under the water and emerged with a small perch. At this point with graceful strides, it walked up onto the shore and disappeared into the woods.

Recently friends were not sure but said they believe they saw a Sandhill Crane while fishing on the Cisco Chain. They wondered if this was a possibility or was it a Blue Heron?  The answer is YES; it could have been a Sandhill Crane. The Cisco Chain has the perfect habitat for both the Sandhill Crane and the Blue Heron. But these are very similar birds as you will see below, except for two differences and possibly one BIG difference in the future.

BLUE HERON
* Can reach 4 feet in height.
* Blue Herons can live over 15 years.
* Choose a new breeding mate each year.
* Eat fish, frogs, snakes and even other birds.
* Has a 6 feet wingspan and can fly up to 30 mph.
* Blue/gray with a white head and darker gray wings

SANDHILL CRANES
* Can reach 3 to 5 feet tall.
*  Life span is 20 to 30 years.
* Typically has the same mate for life
* Eat fish and frogs, but primary food source is more seed/grain
* Wingspan 5 to 7 feet and can fly up to 35 mph.
* Gray with some tan plumage and a red patch on their forehead with dark wingtips.

Not that any of us will ever notice this, but a Blue Heron can never be confused with the Sandhill crane while in flight.  Blue Herons fly with a crooked neck, while Sandhill cranes neck will be straight. The other difference is the number of each species. There are close to 100K Sandhill Cranes in the state, while there are only 20K (high side) breeding pairs of Blue Herons in Wisconsin.

The BIG difference in the future for one of these birds is this. The BLUE HERON is protected under the MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT as is the SANDHILL CRANE, but because of damaging crops (foraging on grain) in agriculture areas, Wisconsin is considering a possible hunting season in the future for the SANDHILL CRANES. Will keep you posted on that subject.