Changing climate means sun might begin to set on sandhill cranes' migration through Nebraska

[Omaha Steve]

MARK DAVIS/THE WORLD-HERALD
Sandhill cranes on the Platte River for their evening roost. Some 500,000 migrating cranes stay along a 60-mile stretch of the Platte from February to April each year.


POSTED: MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2015 12:15 AM
By David Hendee / World-Herald staff writer

As sandhill cranes bring tourism dollars to Nebraska, the state watches birders' habits (at link)

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KEARNEY, Neb. — The migration clock that brings sandhill cranes to the same places at the same time along central Nebraska’s Platte River during the fading days of winter may be winding down.



MARK DAVIS/THE WORLD-HERALD

Sandhill cranes in a cut cornfield near Gibbon. A National Audubon Society report indicates that with climate change, the cranes’ winter ranges will shift northward and expand, so they may migrate across Nebraska in smaller numbers.


A changing global climate could be a new headwind for sandhill cranes to battle in coming decades, according to the National Audubon Society.

“It’s hard to predict the future, of course, but there might not be as many sandhill cranes passing through Kearney,” said Joe Ryan, director of Audubon’s climate initiative.

Ryan is a featured speaker Saturday at Audubon’s Nebraska Crane Festival in Kearney.

FULL story at link. Video: http://studio.omaha.com/?ndn.trackingGroup=91341&ndn.siteSection=omahalanding&ndn.videoId=25718947&freewheel=91341&sitesection=omahalanding&vid=25718947

[Jefferson23]

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