March 2026 • Nebraskaland 31
34 during the last weeks of their stay,
and one spent time on both sides of
the highway.
Kanz and others will also be looking at
fall migration patterns and whether the dates
are shifting and, if so, why; if sandhill cranes are
staging a second time in the Prairie Pothole region
of South Dakota after staging on the Platte; and, of
course, where they are breeding and wintering.
The above map shows the paths
five sandhill cranes trapped
and banded in Nebraska last
spring took to their breeding
and wintering grounds.
LEFT: Dave Brandt, a retired U.S. Geological Survey
biologist, sets a radio triggered snare he designed and
built in hopes of capturing a sandhill crane to tag last
spring as part of a research project led by the Crane Trust.
CENTER: Brandt holds a crane they captured as Abe Kanz
of the Crane Trust prepares to attach a GPS leg band and
Andy Caven of the International Crane Foundation draws
a blood sample.
RIGHT: Brandt releases a banded crane.
