GRAND ISLAND – Each spring, one of Earth’s greatest migrations occurs along a 90-mile stretch of the Platte River valley in central Nebraska.
An estimated 500,000 to 600,000 sandhill cranes – roughly 80% of the total population – stop here from late February through early April to fuel up on food before resuming their journey to northern nesting grounds.
Letty Reichart, an associate professor of biology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, will discuss this natural phenomenon during two presentations at College Park in Grand Island, 3180 W. U.S. Highway 34.
Her addresses, “Cranes, Planes and Automobiles: Migration to the Platte River” and “Tick Tock They All Flock,” will focus on the annual sandhill crane migration, including research history and the migration’s socioeconomic impacts. The first presentation is 3 p.m. March 20 and the second is 7 p.m. March 22, both in the College Park auditorium. Overflow seating will be available in the College Park classrooms.
The presentations are free and open to the public. Face masks are required.
Reichart’s research and teaching interests include avian biology and behavioral ecology. She is affiliated with the American Ornithological Society, Wilson Ornithological Society and Nebraska Ornithological Union, among other professional associations.
