Each spring, the Platte River Valley in central Nebraska becomes the backdrop for one of North America’s largest wildlife ...

Sandhill cranes took flight at sunrise along the Platte River on April 6, 2025, in Kearney. See our photos here.

Flocks of cranes have been coming to the Platte River every spring for millions of years. Sandhill crane numbers have grown ...

Birdwatchers have a rare chance to witness thousands of the towering birds gather in wetlands and fields of the Platte River Valley.

Every year, over one million cranes roost in the Central Platte River Valley in Nebraska during their spring migration. The Crane Trust, a non profit preserving the crane’s habitat, offers guided ...

The impressive sandhill crane migration begins in earnest during the month of March, so much so that their calls fill the air ...

A flock of Sandhill Cranes flies over Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, Nebraska, on March 21, 2025. (© Leesa Goodson via Courthouse News) GIBBON, Neb. (CN) — Before dawn on a recent Friday, thousands of ...

GIBBON, Neb. — Every spring they return. They come to relax and recharge. Some arrive in central Nebraska from far-flung wintering grounds on epic journeys of thousands of miles. Many spend about ...

A record number of sandhill cranes gathered in Nebraska in mid-March during their annual spring migration. Matt Urbanski / Crane Trust Hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes are once again flocking ...

Every year 400,000 to 600,000 sandhill cranes—80 percent of all the cranes on the planet—congregate along an 80-mile stretch of the central Platte River in Nebraska, to fatten up on waste grain in the ...

Every year, Nebraska’s Platte River becomes a corridor of motion and sound as sandhill cranes arrive from the south. By mid- to late February 2026, the first birds are likely to be circling low over ...