Photo courtesy of Nebraska Tourism
Every year Sandhill Cranes migrate north to their breeding grounds, stopping at Nebraska's Platte River as a staging site.
Standing four feet tall, with a long bill, red forehead, and bright white cheek patches, the gray-colored Sandhill Crane can be difficult to see as it blends in with the weeds of fallow fields. While Sandhill Cranes can be seen in winter months in coastal Louisiana, in Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes, their numbers fluctuate, and seeing many at one given area is a challenge. On birding trips to the coast to find wintering flocks of Snow and Specklebelly Geese and various species of ducks, I’ll scan the fields in hopes of finding a crane or two. But these sightings are never enough.
Cranes are fascinating birds to me. There aren’t many birds walking around Louisiana as tall as school-age children, and cranes remind me of storks, the other tall bird rumored to deliver babies back in the 1950s. Either way, when I learned about the great wildlife spectacle of the cranes’ annual staging on Nebraska’s Platte River, witnessing the large numbers of cranes all at once became a bucket list must.
Photo courtesy of Nebraska Tourism.
The Sandhill Crane is recognizable by its long bill and red forehead, as well as it's remarkable height, typically around four feet tall.
Every year in March, thousands of Sandhill Cranes—eighty percent of all cranes on the planet—converge on the Platte River as a staging site (a place to feed and rest along their migration route) before heading north to their breeding grounds. In some years, the crane numbers can exceed the number of citizens in surrounding Nebraska towns. In 2019, the crane population in the Platte River Valley was estimated to be around 659,870.
Driving through Grand Island, NE (population 51,000) to witness the annual crane migration last March, birding friend Anne Gaiennie and I saw cranes everywhere. Looking upward, the cranes were flying in, calling to those already on the ground in the harvested cornfields, feasting on leftovers and fueling up for the physically taxing journey ahead.
When we stopped at a gas station, and again later at the hotel, we saw cranes walking around, resembling alien visitors in these human establishments, totally oblivious to the world of people. During the day, the cranes might be seen anywhere in the area, but at dusk, they begin to roost en masse in the shallow water of the Platte River, which offers them a safe haven from predators.
Photo courtesy of Nebraska Tourism.
During their annual migration, Sandhill Cranes find safety in numbers and by roosting in the shallow waters of the Platte River at night.
Crane fossils found in Nebraska date back as far as ten million years. Food sources are plentiful on the Platte River, where the birds build fat reserves for the long trip to Canada and Siberia to breed. If not already paired, cranes find a mate on the Platte River and then stay paired for life.
Conservation organizations such as Crane Trust and Audubon Nebraska have concentrated protection efforts on the lands around the Platte River to ensure this spectacular migration can continue to occur every year.
[Read more from Harriett Pooler, in this article on the Yellow Rails and Rice Festival.]
At the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center in Wood River, Anne and I watched a video of incredible footage about the mating, breeding, and migration habits of the crane before being escorted to their blind on the Platte River. Since it was evening, we observed the cranes coming in by the hundreds, then thousands, to roost. Within an hour or so, the site was a city of noisy cranes whose robust calls sounded like a rehearsing symphony, especially once the sun set and the frogs and crickets chimed in. I was in a time warp, witnessing the immortal ritual of a bird whose existence goes back millennia, and whose evening roosts on the Platte River have continued in spite of so many opposing forces.
Photo courtesy of Nebraska Tourism.
Every year for the past millenia, hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes converge on Nebraska’s Platte River as a staging site on their northern migration route.
The next morning we returned to the blind in the early hours to see the cranes before they took off at daybreak. Once they awakened, the quiet early morning turned loud as the birds started communicating with each other. Several were performing their courtship dance: stretching their wings, pumping their heads, bowing, and leaping gracefully into the air.
While we were in Nebraska, Anne and I also wanted to see two other birds: the Greater Prairie-Chicken and the Sharp-tailed Grouse, neither of which can be found in Louisiana. We drove to Burwell, a small town located in the center of the state. On its outskirts is the Switzer Ranch, a twelve thousand-acre privately owned ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska. The owners of the ranch are the descendants of homesteaders, and the family continues to run their own cattle alongside their nature-based tourism venture, Calamus Outfitters.
I was in a time warp, witnessing the immortal ritual of a bird whose existence goes back millennia, and whose evening roosts on the Platte River have continued in spite of so many opposing forces.
During mid-March through April, Calamus Outfitters offers lodging and trips to see both the Greater Prairie-Chicken and the Sharp-tailed Grouse on their leks, an area defined by certain birds’ (males) tendencies to congregate and perform courtship rituals. Though the boundary lines are invisible to humans, these grassland birds’ territories are specific and used every spring for courtship and mating. Due to conservation-minded groups and establishments like the Switzer Ranch, Nebraska is considered the stronghold for both species.
Due to low populations from loss of habitat and excessive hunting earlier in the century, the Greater Prairie-Chicken is a hard bird to find. Sort of like a stout chicken, the bird blends into the grasslands and is difficult to see except during breeding season when they congregate on leks. We got up early one morning and drove to the prairie chicken blind (old school bus minus windows on one side with chairs) to settle in with our blankets before the chickens arrived at daybreak. From this viewpoint, we watched the sun rise on the prairie and listened to it coming to life with songs from the western meadowlark and other grassland birds.
Greg Kramos
The Greater Prairie Chicken, pictured full in breeding plumage, booms and struts about to attract females.
Arriving at dawn, the male chickens immediately began to compete with each other. Part of their courtship display includes emitting a low booming sound that can be heard from a mile and a half away. While booming, the male inflates his circular, un-feathered orange neck patch and then raises the orange feathers over his eyes and the dark, elongated head feathers. In addition to these fancy moves, the male quickly starts shuffling his feet while turning in a circular motion. This mating dance can go on for hours, or until a female is suitably impressed, after which the two pair up.
The next morning we visited the Sharp-tailed Grouse lek where these plump game birds performed their own courtship dance. Aptly named because of their long, pointed tail feathers, the Sharp-tailed Grouse is much more aggressive than the prairie chicken and will sometimes mistakenly direct its aggression toward the female, who promptly flies off. The fierce males go after one another, jumping swiftly into the air to avoid the competitor’s hostile peck. During courtship, the male inflates his purple neck patch and shakes his tail feathers, spreading their wings and rapidly stomping its feet while twirling, dipping its outstretched wings on one side then the other.
Photo by David R. Nelson, courtesy of Calamus Outfitters.
The Sharp-tailed Grouse, pictured performing his signature mating dance.
According to our guide, the iconic courtship dances of the Greater Prairie Chicken and Sharp-tailed Grouse formed the basis for the ceremonial dances of the North American Indians whose traditional dance continues today, a testament to the intertwined relationship mankind has with the natural world and these wonderful birds.
I, myself, learn much about life from watching birds. I think about the prairie-chicken, fighting and dancing to ensure the next generation, a lesson in determination. And the cranes, who teach endurance, flying thousands of miles to return to their ancestral roosting spot year after year, for centuries on end. I am endlessly inspired by these magnificent creatures.
See visitgrandisland.com or visitnebraska.com for more information on visiting the upcoming 2020 Sandhill Crane Migration on the Platte River.
