Which crane gathers by Nebraska’s Platte River during its spring migration?

The sandhill crane gathers by Nebraska’s Platte River during its spring migration.

Hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes stop along the Platte River valley in Nebraska in late winter and early spring. They roost in shallow river channels at night and feed in surrounding fields during the day, building energy reserves before continuing north to breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska, and the northern United States.

The Platte stopover is one of North America’s best-known wildlife spectacles. Its value comes from the combination of safe nighttime roosting water and nearby food, especially waste grain in agricultural fields. The cranes’ synchronized calls and dancing displays are characteristic parts of the gathering.

Sandhill cranes are often mistaken for whooping cranes, but sandhills are generally gray and smaller, while adult whooping cranes are mostly white with black wing tips. Several sandhill crane populations follow different migration routes across North America.