Adults are gray; they have a red forehead, white cheeks and a long dark pointed bill. They have long dark legs which trail behind in flight and a long neck that is kept straight in flight. Immature birds have reddish brown upperparts and gray underparts. The other large, grayish-bodied wader of North America is the Great Blue Heron. Although this heron is of similar dimensions to the sandhill and is sometimes given the misnomer "crane", it is extremely different in plumage, method of flight (it flies with its neck tucked towards the body instead of extended) and general structure.

Their breeding habitat is marshes and bogs in central and northern Canada, Alaska, part of the midwestern and southeastern United States, Siberia and Cuba. They nest in marsh vegetation or on the ground close to water. The female lays two eggs on a mound of vegetation. Cranes mate for life; both parents feed the young, called colts, who are soon able to feed themselves. The Sandhill Crane does not breed until it is two to seven years old. It can live up to 25 years in the wild; in captivity they have been known to live more than twice that span. Mated pairs stay together year round, and migrate south as a group with their offspring.

The female at Brevard Zoo has produced young for several years with a wild male who flies into her exhibit and sticks around to help raise the young.  Once the offspring are able to fly, they leave the exhibit.  Father and young may been seen foraging in the parking lot for several weeks after they leave the exhibit.