Where Do Sandhill Cranes Migrate? The Platte River Spectacle

Which sandhill cranes migrate?

Not every sandhill crane migrates. The species includes both long-distance travelers and birds that never leave home.

• Migratory populations: lesser, Canadian and greater sandhill cranes breed where winters are harsh, from the Arctic tundra to the Great Lakes and the northern Rockies. They fly south every fall.
• Resident populations: the Florida sandhill crane, the Mississippi sandhill crane and the Cuban sandhill crane live in mild climates and stay put all year.

In winter, Florida’s resident cranes are joined by migratory greater sandhill cranes from the Great Lakes region, so the state’s crane numbers rise sharply between November and March.

The main flyways

Biologists group migratory sandhill cranes into several populations, each using a fairly traditional route.

The mid-continent population is by far the largest and includes most lesser sandhill cranes. Some of these birds breed in northeastern Siberia and cross the Bering Strait each year, making journeys of more than 5,000 km (3,100 mi) each way.

The Platte River spectacle

Every spring, from about late February to early April, the central Platte River between Grand Island and Lexington, Nebraska, becomes a crane staging area. Hundreds of thousands of cranes rest and refuel there, and the peak usually falls in mid to late March. This stretch of river is often said to host about 80 percent of the world’s sandhill cranes at the height of the season.

The cranes follow a daily rhythm. At sunrise, flocks lift off from the river and fly to nearby cornfields and wet meadows to feed on waste grain, earthworms and insects. At sunset they stream back to roost on shallow sandbars, standing in the water where predators cannot approach quietly. The sound of tens of thousands of cranes calling at dusk is one of the best-known wildlife experiences in the US.

Cranes stay on the Platte for two to four weeks, gaining weight for the next leg of the trip. Fat stored here helps fuel the flight north and the start of nesting, which often begins soon after they reach the breeding grounds.

Where do sandhill cranes spend the winter?

Wintering cranes gather where shallow water for roosting lies close to fields or grasslands for feeding. Important winter areas include:

• Texas and eastern New Mexico: playa lakes and farmland of the southern High Plains, plus the Gulf Coast.
• Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico: famous for its winter crane flocks and annual Festival of the Cranes in November.
• Southeastern Arizona: Whitewater Draw, where tens of thousands of cranes may gather.
• California’s Central Valley: wetlands and rice fields around Lodi, the Cosumnes River and Sacramento.
• Florida and Georgia: wintering birds from the eastern population mix with resident Florida cranes.
• Northern Mexico: highland lakes and grasslands in states such as Chihuahua and Durango.

How do sandhill cranes migrate?

Sandhill cranes are expert soarers. They migrate mainly by day, riding thermals (columns of rising warm air) to gain height, then gliding long distances before finding the next thermal. This saves a great deal of energy compared with flapping flight. On good days a flock can travel several hundred kilometers.

Families migrate together. Young cranes learn the route, the stopover sites and the wintering grounds by following their parents on their first trip south and back north. This learned tradition is why crane populations return to the same places year after year, and why conservationists have been able to teach captive-raised cranes new routes. To learn how birds find their way in general, see how migrating birds navigate.

When do sandhill cranes migrate?

• Spring: mainly February to April. Southern breeders move first; Arctic birds may not reach their nesting grounds until May.
• Fall: mainly September to December. Cranes leave the far north in late August and September and often linger in the Midwest until cold weather and snow push them south.

Timing has shifted in some places as winters become milder and more waste grain is available farther north. In recent decades, some cranes have wintered in states such as Indiana and Kentucky rather than flying all the way to Florida.

Threats along the migration route

The Platte River’s importance makes it a weak point. Water diversion and dams have reduced the river’s flow, allowing trees and shrubs to grow on sandbars that were once open. Conservation groups and agencies clear vegetation and manage water to keep roosting sites usable. Power line collisions and the loss of wetlands at stopovers and wintering areas are other concerns.

Despite these pressures, sandhill crane numbers have increased in recent decades, and the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. For more on migration distances across the animal kingdom, see the longest animal migrations.