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Number of cranes

When do the cranes arrive to Hornborgasjön in the spring? How many of them are here during the autumn? The cranes are counted, by skilled bird watchers from the Lake Hornborgasjön Bird Observatory, during both spring and autumn. On this site you will find data from the observations.

Spring

During the spring, thousands of cranes gather at Trandansen, an area in the southern part of the lake. The Lake Hornborgasjön Bird Observatory have been counting the birds regularly for over 30 years. Data on this page dates back to 1994. When the cranes start to arrive depends on winds from the south and whether spring is early or late.

Graph that describes the number of cranes.
When are the most cranes here? During the spring, between March and April. The diagram shows an average over the number of cranes between 1994-2021.

number of cranes in the spring

The cranes only start counting when there are a few hundred by the lake. If data is missing, the bill has failed for some reason.

Autumn cranes

Even during the autumn, there are cranes at Hornborgasjön. Up to 24,000 cranes can rest here during the autumn, but they are then more shy and are not fed because agriculture is not as sensitive. The cranes therefore only visit the lake to rest during the night. You can best see the cranes from Trandansen in September-October at dusk when they go to the lake to sleep.

Number of cranes during the Autumn

During the autumn, the cranes are counted twice a week. Some days the bill is canceled and then no statistics from that date are visible. The bills are usually set when the weather is too bad to count the cranes.

All statistics

The cranes at Hornborgasjön have been counted for over 30 years. We therefore have a long series of data. Below you can see our statistics from 1994.

Crane statistics

You can sort the order in the table by the years you want to see, specific dates through the ages or by which dates the most cranes have been seen. Test yourself!

Datum Antal Anteckning
wdt_ID Datum Antal Anteckning
1 1994-03-24 200
2 1994-03-25 200
3 1994-03-26 Ingen räkning
4 1994-03-27 Ingen räkning
5 1994-03-28 Ingen räkning
6 1994-03-29 1950
7 1994-03-30 1955
8 1994-03-31 2100
9 1994-04-01 Svårräknat
10 1994-04-02 3444

Plan your visit

Do you want to visit Lake Hornborgasjön during the crane season? We have gathered more information about parking spaces, the info center Trandansen and guided tours on the website.

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