Nebraska Big Year: Common Crane Quest

March 27, 2025

March is crane season in Nebraska, the Platte River is covered with nearly a million Sandhill Cranes, and we often get handfuls of Whooping Cranes. But the most sought after crane in the state (besides the ultra-mega Hooded) might just be the Common Crane. The Common Crane is a eurasian species that breeds in northern Euraisa, all the way from Northern Europe to Siberia. Sandhill Cranes also breed in far eastern Russia, and sometimes post-breeding dispersal can result in a student exchange program of sorts, leading Sandhill cranes to end up in Europe and Common Cranes to end up here in Nebraska.

When setting out for a Big Year, the rarities are what matters. You can't get a very large number of birds with just the breeding birds, you need to go for the crazy rarities. So at the beginning of the year, Common Crane was in the back of my mind. Studying ebird data, I noticed that nearly every year there was a Common Crane spotted, sometimes near Grand Island, and sometimes near Lewellen way out by Lake Mac. I told myself if there was a Common Crane report, I would go for it.

March 17, 2025

On March 17th, one of those reports came in. I was out enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, washing my mountain bike in preparation for a ride when I got a call from Keegan. "Did you see what I sent you?!?! Common Crane. Merrick County. Now." Sure enough, there it was. I couldn't bail on the bike ride with my friends, but Keegan and I quickly made plans and took the time off from work to head out the next day in search of the crane.

March 18, 2025

We started near Phillips, searching through endless flocks of cranes. We branched out to nearby areas, searching the roads south where it had been in 2022. Paul Dunbar and others were out looking as well, but after 4 hours of searching we had nothing. We regrouped with lunch at Runza and decided to put in one last effort. With 2 more hours of fruitless searching, we decided it was time to give up. 100 disappointed miles back home. The haystack won today.

March 23, 2025

CRANE ALERT, CRANE ALERT! Late Sunday afternoon, another report came in, this time closer to Kearney. Once again, Keegan and I hatched plans to set out the next day, this time bringing along long-time Nebraska birder and mentor, Dan.

March 24, 2025

Once again, we started searching the area where it was previously reported. The heat haze was awful at midday, and I estimate we were only really searching 1/3 of all the cranes in the area. After 2 hours of searching we were beginning to lose hope, until I recieve a text from Boni with a photo taken just an hour earlier: "Common Crane in Clear Creek". Clear Creek? 3 hours away on the west end of Lake McConaughy? It was a decision point. We had spent 2 fruitless hours searching here, and someone was currently looking at a Common Crane under 3 hours away. We had to take advantage of it, so we immediately set off.

2 hours and 34 minutes later when we arrived, Julie from game and parks was standing on a picnic table photographing the bird. We quickly joined, got onto it and let out a sigh of relief. It so nice, after dedicating many hours to searching and driving for one bird to finally get it. It was a life bird for both Keegan and I, and it gave us great looks, showing off it's contrasting neck pattern against the nearby Sandhill Cranes!

Clear Creek WMA is a wonderful spot, with a few newly built ponds and wetland areas, so we spent some time birding in the area while also enjoying the crane. The cranes were roosting SO CLOSE, I don't think I'd ever been so close to a crane not in a car or blind, but the tall grasses between the path and the roost provided some cover and the cranes seemed not to mind. After about an hour (and with a 4 hour drive ahead of us), we decided to head back, having completed our quest. 650 miles. 1 life and year bird.

Common Crane, Keith

Common Crane

Special thanks to Matt (for finding the bird), Paul and Colleen (for searching with us), Boni (for texting me about the bird), Julie (for being on it when we got there), and Dan (for coming along for the ride).