What the Crane Counts tell us – and what it doesn’t
- Ed Bell
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Edward Bell | Crane Count Coordinator
Each year, BirdLife Northern Queensland coordinates the annual Crane Count across the Atherton Tablelands – a large-scale, volunteer-driven monitoring program focused on Sarus Cranes and Brolgas on their wintering grounds. Now in its 29th year, the Crane Count is one of the longest running citizen science projects in Australia. While this article draws on the past four years of data, its strength lies in the much longer-term dataset built through consistent methodology and sustained community effort. You can read more in about the first 20 years of the count on the website [1].
At its core, the Crane Count is a structured ecological survey designed to track crane populations over time while on their winter forging grounds. It uses two complementary methods: daytime transects, which capture where cranes are foraging across the landscape, and coordinated dusk roost counts, which currently provide the only proxy for population size. Importantly, the count produces a minimum estimate rather than a full census. Its value lies not in absolute precision, but in consistency – allowing comparisons across years.
This level of monitoring is only possible through strong community participation. Each year, between 50 and 80 volunteers contribute to the count, covering a large and complex landscape. Access to private land is critical, as many of the most important roost sites occur on working farms. The only real change over the years has been the addition of the lunchtime transects which Graham Harrington instigated in 2016 so this year we’ll be hitting the ten-year mark with that data set and will do an analysis after this year’s count. This makes the Crane Count both a citizen science success story and, at times, a logistical challenge.
Looking at recent results, crane numbers show clear variability rather than a simple upward or downward trend. Roost counts – the most reliable indicator – recorded approximately 2,400 birds in 2022, rising to 3,216 in 2023, dropping to 2,159 in 2024, and increasing again to 2,472 in 2025. These fluctuations can appear significant, but they are not unexpected. Large interannual variation is a normal feature of ecological systems, and short-term declines should not be interpreted as evidence of population collapse. Instead, they reinforce the importance of long-term monitoring to detect meaningful trends.
While total numbers vary, spatial patterns are far more consistent. Sarus Cranes are repeatedly concentrated on the Central Tablelands, while Brolgas occur in higher numbers around Mareeba and the northern Tablelands, as well as in the southern Tablelands and Innot Hot Springs region. This stable distribution suggests strong ecological preferences and a degree of habitat partitioning between the two species. This supports earlier findings by researchers looking at agriculture and cranes on the Atherton Tablelands [2].
At the same time, the Crane Count highlights important gaps in our understanding. The survey captures birds during the wintering phase of their annual cycle, but both species breed in the Gulf of Carpentaria – a remote and difficult-to-access region. As a result, we lack key data on breeding success, juvenile recruitment, and the proportion of the population that migrates south each year. Some birds are also inevitably missed due to shifting movements, unknown roost sites, or limited access to certain areas. These gaps mean the dataset is inherently incomplete, but still highly informative when interpreted appropriately.
There are also practical limitations associated with detecting and identifying cranes in the field. During daytime surveys, birds are often distant or affected by heat haze. Roost counts are susceptible to distance again but also decreasing light levels as the count continues past dusk leading to at times large percentages of birds being “unidentified”.
Encouragingly, the proportion of unidentified birds has decreased over time showing that good optics and keen returning experienced counters make all the difference. Data quality is strengthening, but remains constrained by the realities of field conditions.
One of the clearest ecological signals emerging from the data is the influence of land use. Cranes consistently forage in pasture and post-harvest cropping systems, particularly maize and occasionally peanuts, where leftover grain and plant material provide a reliable food source. However, agricultural landscapes on the Tablelands are changing. Shifts toward crops such as cotton and sugar cane, along with external pressures like fall armyworm affecting maize production, have the potential to alter food availability. The possible decline of the peanut industry adds another layer of uncertainty. These changes are likely to influence where cranes occur across the landscape, reinforcing the link between agricultural systems and crane distribution.
The data also point to a system that is dynamic rather than static. Cranes forage widely during the day, making them difficult to count, but concentrate at roost sites at dusk, which is why roost counts are so important. Increasingly, there is evidence of shifting behaviour, including changes in roost site use and the timing of peak abundance, with some indications that cranes may be arriving or peaking earlier in the season. There are also observations of birds moving to previously unmonitored areas, including locations further north, suggesting that current survey coverage may not capture the full extent of their distribution.
The Innot Hot Springs region provides a particularly clear example of this variability. Counts there have ranged from almost no birds in 2022 to more than 1,000 at a single roost site in 2023, with numbers fluctuating again in subsequent years. These dramatic changes are likely driven by a combination of land use, water availability, and disturbance, highlighting how responsive crane populations are to local environmental conditions.
Taken together, the Crane Count represents a high-value, long-term dataset that continues to grow in importance. Its strength lies in consistency, scale, and the integration of local knowledge with scientific method. Its value increases over time, particularly as it is supplemented by pre-count surveys and opportunistic observations from platforms such as BirdData and eBird. These additional data sources help fill gaps and improve interpretation of the annual counts.
The Crane Count is not a perfect dataset, nor is it intended to be. It is a foundational monitoring program that provides critical insight into crane populations in northern Queensland. More importantly, it demonstrates what can be achieved through sustained, community-driven science. By combining long-term commitment with adaptive improvement, BirdLife Northern Queensland has established a program capable of detecting ecological change at a landscape scale – and contributing meaningfully to the conservation of these iconic species. If you want to get involved visit the website to find out more and sign up for this year’s count on the 29th of August 2026. Look forward to seeing you there.
Reports
The 2024 and 2025 Project Reports available to download now:
References
Elinor C Scambler, Timothy D Nevard, Graham N Harrington, Ceinwen Edwards, Virginia Simmonds, & Donald C Franklin. (2020). Numbers, distribution and behaviour of Australian Sarus Cranes “Antigone antigone gillae” and Brolgas “A. rubicunda” at wintering roosts on the Atherton Tablelands, far north Queensland, Australia. Australian Field Ornithology, 37, 87-99.
Nevard, T. D., Franklin, D. C., Leiper, I., Archibald, G., & Garnett, S. T. (2019). Agriculture, brolgas and Australian sarus cranes on the Atherton Tablelands, Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology, 25(4), 377-385.
