Amazing Migration: Photos of Sandhill Cranes

Home again, home again

Each March, more than 500,000 Sandhill Cranes that overwintered in the warm southern wetlands will once again begin their long migratory journey, returning to their northern breeding grounds. More than three-fourths of this number will use a 75-mile (120 km) stretch of wetlands along Nebraska's Platte River as a migratory staging area. They will fly upwards of 400 miles (640 km) each day, returning to their summer homes in time for the mild, springtime weather of May.