Sandhill Cranes Spread Their Wings, Rest a Spell in US Midwest
FILE -- Sandhill cranes begin a playful hopping and leaping as the sun rises on the Platte River in central Nebraska, a staging location on one of the world's largest migrations.
FILE -- Sandhill cranes fill the skies at sunset, descending to their roost on the river where they are protected from predators.
As the sun rises, crane watchers look out the holes in the blinds at Aububon's Rowe Sanctuary to spot sandhill cranes perched on the river or flying overhead, near Gibbon, Nebraska, March 16, 2019.
FILE -- The evening rush hour on the Platte River includes thousands of sandhill cranes drifting down from the sky at dusk to find a place among the masses standing in shallow water on the river, Feb. 22, 2019.
Photographers from all over the world capture the colorful cranes from blinds or these river-side platforms, near Gibbon, Nebraska, March 16, 2019.
In the evening, bird tourists find a vantage point to watch the waves of cranes fly over the Platte River, near Gibbon, Nebraska, March 16, 2019.
Sandhill cranes' colorful plumage, and colorful personality, are on display every March on the Platte River in central Nebraska, March 14, 2013.
Chris Helzer, science director for Nature Conservancy of Nebraska, in describing the arrival of the sandhill cranes, said, "The best description I've read is like a dandelion seed falling gently."
Neseem Munshi of Colorado has been coming to Nebraska to see the crane migration for many years and compares it to the world's other great migration in her native Africa -- the wildebeests.