Natural History Wanderings

Smithsonian Magazine reports

A record number of sandhill cranes arrived in central Nebraska during the first week of their annual spring migration, likely lured by mild winter temperatures.

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of the tall, long-legged birds begin making their journey north to breeding grounds in Alaska, Canada and eastern Siberia. Out of all the world’s sandhill cranes, 80 percent use Nebraska’s Platte River as a pit stop, where they fatten up on corn kernels left over from the previous fall’s harvest.

Read on at  38,000 Sandhill Cranes Flock to Nebraska in a Record-Breaking Start to Spring Migration | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine