Citizen scientists track crane population on southern Kenai Peninsula

Lesser sandhill cranes in Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Nina Faust/Kachemak Crane Watch)
A sandhill crane looks and sounds like a modern day dinosaur.
They stand about 3 feet tall and have a 6-foot wing span.
They use their sharp 4-inch beak for probing in the dirt and catching insects and small mammals. And sometimes, they use that long beak for defense.
“That beak is a very very lethal weapon,” said Nina Faust, co-founder of Kachemak Crane Watch, a non-profit org