Migrations
Sandhill Cranes
Bosque del Apache · Fall 2027
They gather in their thousands in the wetlands of New Mexico, a feathered sea of long legged, gray-white birds topped with their signature scarlet crown. They’ve come from the marshes and river valleys of the northern states where they were born, flying hundreds of miles to this wintering spot where they roost and forage, waiting for spring. That’s when they will stretch their long necks, lean into the winds, and take to the skies again, borne aloft to the sound of their own trumpeting call.
Sandhill cranes follow the same paths, called flyways, year after year but in that first year, they have to learn those paths from the elders in their flock. They come to understand the route, stopover locations, and wintering grounds through following the older cranes, the knowledge passed on, generation by generation.
Once the long and exhausting migration is done, the birds follow a highly coordinated routine of water roosting and dawn fly-outs, subsisting on a high energy diet to protect themselves from the cold desert nights.
Once the stress of the migration is over, the dances can begin. Sandhill cranes practice elaborate courting dances - bowing, leaping into the air, and tossing grasses - not just as part of the springtime mating ritual but all year round. During the fall, the dances reinforce existing bonds and help teach the younger cranes how they themselves can find a mate. Cranes mate for life, and the wintering is the time for single cranes to begin the search for a sandhill soulmate.
Cranes hold deep spiritual and symbolic meaning for many indigenous people whose lands are on the cranes’ traditional flyways. Our cameras will find the cranes in Bosque del Apache, near the Hopi and Zuni nations, both of which have dedicated Crane Clans. The birds are revered for their faithfulness, elegant mating dances, and loud calls. For the Zuni and other Pueblo nations, cranes are culturally tied to water, wetlands, and agricultural luck. For Indigenous people around the world, cranes traditionally symbolize hope, joy, and new beginnings.