Each spring, some of Nebraska’s most anticipated visitors descend on the Platte River in droves, both by land and by air: the sandhill cranes and the people who come to look at them.

Hundreds of thousands of cranes embark on a long journey from their winter habitat in Texas and Mexico to their summer homes in Canada, straight through a line of U.S. states called the Central Flyway.

How Many Cranes Show Up?

There’s no consensus about exactly how many — some experts say 400,000, some say one million, and it also varies a lot by year.

Why Do They Stop In Nebraska?

Nebraska plays a key role on the route, as the cranes routinely stop for a long rest in wetlands along the Platte River in the central part of the state, sharing their preferred rest stop with the larger, and endangered, whoopi

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