Birding for Life with Cranes

Sandhill cranes coming to the Platte River to roost at night

This past weekend a group of 17 people from Des Moines, led by me and Rev. Dr. Meredith Garmon, journeyed to Kearny, Nebraska for a Crane Spiritual and Bird Walk Weekend. This event was sponsored by One Earth Conservation and the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines. Our first stop was the International Crane Trust Nature Center where we learned the last count conducted in early March revealed 583,000 Sandhill Cranes in the area! I asked if they had been seen at certain locations that were on our itinerary and the guide answered, “They are everywhere!” Indeed, they were.

The sun and cranes arising in the early morning

There were so many because when the Sandhill cranes migrate north, they funnel through a short segment of the Platte River around Kearny, Nebraska. They used to migrate through a larger section of the river, but ecosystem degradation by humans has limited the cranes' access to suitable habitat, so the birds accumulate in high densities that peak in March.

Lesser Sandhill cranes foraging in the corn fields around Kearny

The birds we saw were the lesser Sandhill crane subspecies and they are more numerous than the greater Sandhill crane. Both suffered greatly in previous decades. In the 1930s, Sandhill cranes had all but disappeared, especially east of the Mississippi River. Although Sandhill cranes are not considered threatened as a species, the three southernmost subspecies are more vulnerable. Thanks to habitat restoration, conservation measures, and hunting restrictions, the birds are a remarkable come-back story.

Their success is also due to the bird’s resilience and evolutionary adaptions. Some estimate that the cranes have been migrating through Nebraska for 2.5 to 10 million years. They are the oldest extant bird species on the planet.

Seeing their beauty and abundance, I believe, instilled in us the resilience to face the consequences of global societal and environmental degradation with both current and future moments of joy, strength, and courage. May we humans and all species have the chance to flourish, as have the cranes, because of what we have done and will do.

Looking towards the future and a better life by observing cranes in the cold, morning air.