Echoes of the Pleistocene

The Resilience of Sandhill and Whooping Cranes

Last weekend, I ventured out with my friends Holly, Vero, and Jared, front to back. We made our way down to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama to witness one of the greatest wonders to come out of the Pleistocene (2.6 Mya-11,000 ya). When we arrived, we were greeted with a sound that can only be described as something out of the movie Jurassic Park. Take a listen.

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Sandhill Cranes are living relics whose fossils date back to the Pleistocene about 2.5 million years ago. It's hard not to ponder the changes this species has witnessed throughout the ages as you hear their bugle-like calls. They still follow their ancient flyways, starting in Siberia and going as far south as Mexico. Much of their path was molded and influenced by ancient glacier formations. One can only wonder what they saw as they flew over windswept prairies and shimmering wetlands: mammoths, ground sloths, dire wolves, short-faced bears, sabertooth cats? They almost certainly shared the same habitats of giant beavers, stag moose, American mastodon, and Steppe bison.

Though the rest have disappeared, the Sandhill Cranes still make their journey living mostly as they always have. They breed in Canada, Siberia, Alaska, and the Northern Plains. During southern migration, their staging grounds mostly take place in the northern plains like the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, etc. Here, what still remains of grasslands and wetlands are used by the cranes as a meeting place where they replenish their energy for the next leg of their journey. For example, many cranes converge by the tens of thousands in the Platte River Valley in Nebraska.

While fueling up, Sandhills dine on insects, seeds, roots of aquatic plants, snails, frogs, berries, snakes, small mammals, and cultivated grains such as corn and soybeans.

As winter creeps in, they head further south and stop in places like Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. After a stop there, they head down towards Texas and Mexico.

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Today, we can visit places like Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama, Rowe Sanctuary in Nebraska, Big Bend National Park in Texas, Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, or California’s San Joaquin Valley to witness the majesty of Sandhill Cranes. However, this wasn’t always the case. Once numbering only a few thousand due to habitat loss and over hunting, Sandhill Cranes were nearly brought to the brink of extinction. Thanks to conservation efforts, their population has rebounded to an estimated 600,000–700,000 individuals.

Whooping Crane

Similarly, Whooping Cranes, close relatives of the Sandhill Crane, were once numerous, with over 10,000 individuals existing in the wild. However, by 1940, their numbers had plummeted to just 15 individuals. Today, roughly 500 exist in the wild. They are still considered endangered and one of the rarest species of crane on Earth. Like most of our native flora and fauna, habitat loss from development, climate change, wetland drainage, and conversion of habitat into farmland threatens this species. Additional dangers include illegal hunting, collisions with power lines, agricultural fungicides, and disease.

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If you look back at the first picture, you can see the pure joy in the faces of my friends as they look on at some birds in the distance. We all work in conservation, and moments like these remind us why we do what we do. As Aldo Leopold once said, ‘One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen.’ It’s a bittersweet truth we face daily, witnessing the marks of ecological harm where others see untouched beauty. Yet, places like this, where cranes gather, and life endures, offer us renewal and hope for the future.

With that, we headed back home and grabbed some famous Alabama BBQ.

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Enjoy some of these other pictures

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If you enjoy reading nature Substacks I encourage you to check out Dr. Bob Leonard at Cedar Creek Nature Notes, Dian Porter at My Gaia, Larry Stone at Listening to the Land and Al Batt at Naturally Al Batt you wont be disappointed.

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