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.

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

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

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 ...

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 ...

It’s not too early to reserve a spot on dry ground nearby. There are viewing-blind tours to book and registrations to snag for field trips, speakers and other activities centered on the migration of ...

Hosting one of the natural world’s greatest shows on Earth is a spring ritual in the Platte River’s Big Bend region in Nebraska, so area residents have had front-row seats for the sandhill cranes’ ...

Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard and seen some annual winter residents of Northcentral Texas and Southwestern Oklahoma slowly flying and gliding into the area. For myself and many other people, ...

GIBBON — The Audubon Society’s annual Nebraska Crane Festival is set for March 22-25 at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Kearney. National and local speakers will present information on a ...