THE 2024 LODI SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL IS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 2-3. TOURS WILL TAKE PLACE NOVEMBER 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. RESERVATIONS FOR TOURS GO ON SALE SEPTEMBER 3, 2024.
THE 2024 FESTIVAL EVENTS (INCLUDING PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS, TOURS, AND OTHER ACTIVITIES) CAN BE VIEWED HERE.
The Fairfield by Mariott Inn and Suites is offering a discounted rate of $189 per night for anyone mentioning “Lodi Sandhill Crane” at (209)268-7500. This rate is good for the entire Sandhill Crane season.
2024 FESTIVAL INFORMATION
FESTIVAL DATES
November 1-3, 2024
TICKET SALES LIVE
September 3, 2024
LOCATION
Hutchins Street Square
125 S. Hutchins Street
Lodi CA 95240
For 25 years, Lodi’s Sandhill Crane Festival has celebrated the return of the cranes. In partnership with the City of Lodi, the Festival tradition continues in November of 2023, welcoming an ever-growing circle of friends to our community to share the wonder of the Sandhill Crane … and so much more.
People return to our festival year after year because it is one of the best in California. It’s hard to say if that’s because of the excellent presenters and workshops, the many tours, the chance to shop in the exhibit hall, to view incredible art, or just to meet up with like-minded friends. One thing is certain; the Sandhill Cranes are the big attraction. This festival draws more people to Lodi than any other event.
A hundred years ago these magnificent birds darkened the skies over marshes in the Delta. Today, their numbers have been reduced to thousands. Because of this, the Lodi Sandhill Crane Association takes great pride in our efforts to promote crane conservation through our festival. We invite you to explore the wildlife refuges and farmlands in our area to experience first hand one of nature’s spectacles.
Between October and February, Sandhill Cranes can be seen during the day feeding in fields throughout the California Delta. There is good viewing along Woodbridge Road, west of Interstate 5; on Staten Island Road, near Walnut Grove; and on the corner of Desmond Road and Bruceville Road in the Cosumnes River Preserve. In the evening they congregate in flooded fields at the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve, Staten Island, and the Cosumnes River Preserve.
Durning the spring and summer, the Greater Sandhill Cranes spread out in northern California and Oregon to raise their offspring. Lessers are spread out in Alaska and Siberia. Viewing the cranes becomes more difficult because the birds do not congregate in large numbers. Few people get to see the cranes hatching their young. Click here to see a parent tending to its newly hatched colt.
You are reminded that all visitors at the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve are required to poses a valid Lands Pass or hunting or fishing license. Lands Passes can be purchased at https://wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Lands-Pass
You may be interested in knowing that other Sandhill Crane tours are available during the fall and winter. For more information about California Department of Fish and Wildlife tours during the season go to this CDFW website. For information about Sandhill Crane tours through the Cosumnes River Preserve, chick here.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Antigone canadensis
TYPE: Birds
FAMILY: Cranes
SIZE: 4.5 – 5 feet tall
WEIGHT: 6 – 12 lbs
HABITAT
Prairies, fields, marshes, tundra. Habitat varies with region, but usually nests around marshes or bogs, either in open grassland or surrounded by forest. Northernmost birds nest on marshy tundra. In migration and winter, often around open prairie, agricultural fields, river valleys.
DIET
Omnivorous. Diet varies widely with location and season. Major food items include insects, roots of aquatic plants; also eat rodents, snails, frogs, lizards, snakes, nestling birds, berries, seeds. May eat large quantities of cultivated grains when available.
REPRODUCTION
Mated pairs are monogamous.
They build their nest in marshy areas.
Females lay 1-3 eggs.
Males do most of the long-term incubation.
Chicks hatch in about a month.
Both male and female raise the chicks
WATCH & LEARN
BECOME A MEMBER
Show your support and become a member of the Lodi Sandhill Crane Association. Enjoy many benefits including discounts on tours and merchandise.
Lodi Sandhill Crane Association gratefully acknowledges the support of these and others, whose generosity and commitment helps us to further promote Sandhill Crane conservation. For information on how to become a supporter, click here.
We also gratefully acknowledge the financial sponsors who support our Festival.
In addition, a special thank you to the tour leaders, presenters, exhibitors Hutchins Street Square staff and many volunteers whose assistance and support makes the Festival run smoothly.
2023 SILENT AUCTION DONATIONS
Anthony Gargiulo-Wildlife Sculptures Inc.
Out of This World Optics
Stella Stevens
Obi Kaufmann
Sacramento Audubon
Claudia Schwalm
Mary Anderson
California Watchable Wildlife
Chet & Dorothy Wilcox Bird Carvings
Amy Weiser