The Crane Trust is a habitat conservation nonprofit organization located on the beautiful Platte River in South Central Nebraska. In addition to offering tours of one of the greatest migrations in the world, the Trust works year-round to protect and preserve nearly 10,000 acres of critical habitat for endangered Whooping Cranes, Sandhill Cranes, and countless other species sharing fragile river and prairie ecosystems.

Starting in mid-January, the Crane Trust science team surveys our greater prairie chickens’ (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) lekking behavior on Mormon Island. Learn why greater prairie chickens are on Mormon Island, why we monitor them, and how land management comes into play.

On Wednesday the 17th we saw 0 sandhill cranes between Overton and Chapman, NE. This year we had a gradual climb to peak numbers in week 7, March 28th, with 486,000 sandhill cranes. Over 175 whooping cranes used the Platte River this Spring! This brings our crane season officially to a close.

On Monday we estimated 57,000 +/- 4,200 Sandhill Cranes between Overton and Chapman NE. This is a whopping (or should I say whooping) 85% decrease from last Wednesday.