Written by Dr Gary Ivey/ Photo of lesser sandhill cranes by Dr Gary Ivey
Spring in Harney County is heralded by the return of thousands of lesser sandhill cranes to the private hayfields on the Silvies Floodplain, north of Malheur Refuge. While the larger, greater sandhill crane breeds in this area, these lessers use it as a re-fueling station for their long northward migration. They begin arriving in early March and peaking in mid-March, large flocks totaling up to 6,000 birds can be found feeding in the irrigated meadows on the Silvies floodplain through mid April. This used to be the most important spring staging site in the Flyway. However, efforts at Columbia Refuge in Othello Washington which began to provide corn fields for spring migrating cranes in the mid-1990s has led to a shift in higher crane use in that area, and most of the Harney County lessers head to Othello after leaving Harney County.
The irrigated, hayed and grazed meadows of the floodplain provide ideal feeding sites for cranes as irrigation water and cow pies make an abundance of earthworms available and cranes also love to dig for camas bulbs and soft roots of other meadow plants.
These cranes are members of the Pacific Coast Population, and the Silvies Floodplain is one of their major spring staging areas, supporting up to about half of the entire population. Migration studies have shown migration paths and wintering locations of individual cranes marked with satellite radios. Their known nesting areas in Alaska include the Alaska Peninsula and Bristol Bay east to the Kenai Peninsula and Upper Cook Inlet; however, it is possible that some Pacific Flyway cranes also breed in Eastern Russia.
Fall migration begins in early September, as these birds begin to move east then south along the Alaska coast. They stop along the way to rest and feed and gather into larger flocks near the Copper River Delta, Yakutat, Gustavus and the Stikine River Delta in southeast Alaska. Near the Stikine River, they migrate east through the mountains into interior British Columbia. From there they travel south through eastern Washington and Oregon, eventually arriving in the Central Valley of California where they spend the winter. They spend about a month on this journey, only briefly resting a day or so along the way before continuing. They spend the winter in the Grasslands Region near Merced and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta region near Lodi, where they forage in agricultural fields and wetlands for 5 months. They then move to several spring staging areas where they may linger a month or more, fattening up to continue their journey. Their movements home follow the same general path used in fall migration.
Where to see them: Usually, the areas to find lesser sandhill cranes include the meadows along Hotchkiss and Greenhouse Lanes and Highway 205 near Burns. Depending on water conditions, good viewing may also be found along Highway 20 between Burns and Buchanan. They sometimes use the meadows north of the Burns Paiute Reservation. These areas continue to provide good birding through mid April, but locating birds on a given day may take some scouting in order to find the concentration areas.
