Big sandhill crane buff?
The Arizona Game & Fish Department has set up a Sandhill Crane Cam for live viewing of the birds on their wintering grounds at Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area.
The best viewing times are just after daylight and around noon when they return from morning feeding for the rest of the afternoon.
The cranes began arriving in late October, and viewers can continue to check in until March, and possibly as late as April, when they head north to their nesting grounds.
Nebraska’s Rowe Sanctuary also has a great viewing cam for the tens of thousands of cranes that roost on the river in the spring.
Arizona’s live stream is available at www.azgfd.gov/sandhillcranes. Arizona Game & Fish Department also offers live desert pupfish and bat cams.
Worldwide there are 15 species of cranes, but only two species are found in North America: the endangered whooping crane and sandhill cranes.
Never hunt a crane before? Think dry-lands waterfowl hunt like duck or goose; when birds move to feed, they are huntable. Many different states offer sandhill crane hunting (such as Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Idaho, Minnesota, Arizona, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota), so make sure you check the rules and regulations in any state before heading out to the field.
Sources: Nebraska Game & Parks and Arizona Game & Fish Department
