BirdReturns – Sandhill Cranes

About the Program

BirdReturns – Sandhill Cranes program incentivizes farmers to create new crane habitat to increase the resilience of the Central Valley’s Sandhill Crane population. The goal is to complement existing habitat by providing additional foraging and roosting habitat. This program is funded by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and administered by The Nature Conservancy, Audubon California, and Point Blue Conservation Science.

Individual growers may provide either foraging sites or roosting sites, or both in combination. Roosting sites provide sanctuary habitat for cranes and other waterbirds to congregate and spend the night safe from predators and cannot be hunted. Foraging sites provide locations for cranes to feed near their night roosts. These sites must be harvested grain fields that are left untilled and initially unflooded to maximize the amount of food for the birds. The payment rate for this program is $90/acre.

Please visit the BirdReturns website for more detailed information.

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