Sandhill cranes undertake spectacular migrations across North America, but face welfare risks from power line collisions, habitat loss at staging areas, and legal hunting in many US states.
Sandhill crane welfare risks cluster around migration bottlenecks. Power line strikes cause traumatic injury - broken wings and legs - from which recovery is often impossible in wild birds. Staging area habitat loss forces birds to concentrate in smaller areas, increasing competition, stress, and disease transmission. Hunting of sandhill cranes, including wounding losses of birds that are not retrieved, causes significant acute suffering. Protection of Platte River staging habitat and power line marking are the most impactful individual welfare interventions.