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Big Bend Reach of the Platte River

Sandhill cranes

Sandhill cranes
© Chris Helzer/The Nature Conservancy

Each spring and fall thousands of sandhill cranes migrate through the area, one of the Midwest's most impressive natural spectacles.

Downloads

Video
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High Resolution (3.2mb)

(Windows Media Video files)

 

Streaming video of cranes on the Platte
(1 min 14 sec)

 
Why You Should Visit
The 80-mile stretch of the Platte River between Overton and Chapman, known as the Big Bend Reach, is the most important migratory bird area along the United States portion of the Central Flyway of North America. It is described as the ‘pinch in the hourglass’. The Platte and its adjacent wet meadows in the Big Bend region provide habitat for millions of migratory birds including some 500,000 sandhill cranes and millions of ducks and geese. It is an important stopover location for migrating whooping cranes during the spring and fall migration. The area is also very important for threatened and endangered species such as the bald eagle, interior least tern, piping plover and many grassland bird species.

Location
Adams, Buffalo, Hall, Hamilton, and Kearney Counties

Size
To date, the Conservancy, with the help of its partners (US Fish and Wildlife Service, Nebraska Game and Parks, and Audubon Society), has protected more than 8,000 acres.
 

Directions
To take the vehicle tour of the Platte River Road exit Interstate 80. For further information, call (402) 342-0282, or e-mail nebraska@tnc.org

What to See: Plants

  • Big bluestem
  • Little bluestem
  • Purple prairie clover
  • Sand lovegrass
  • Switchgrass
  • Black-eyed susan
  • Bundle weed
  • Lady’s tresses
  • Prairie larkspur
  • CottonwoodSandbar willow
  • Sedge meadow

What to See: Animals

  • Bald eagle
  • Bobolink
  • Canada goose
  • Cinnamon teal
  • Blue-winged teal
  • Great blue heron
  • Interior least tern
  • Piping plover
  • Pintail
  • Sandhill cranes (seasonal)
  • Snow goose
  • Whooping crane
  • Mule deer
  • Red fox
  • Jackrabbit
  • Black-tailed prairie dog
  • Tiger salamander
  • Western striped chorus frog
  • Blanding’s turtle
  • Flathad chub
  • Plains topminnow

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
The Nature Conservancy selected the Platte River as a priority site because of its significant upland and wetland habitat for migratory water birds and native resident plants and animals.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The Nature Conservancy and its partners have helped to protect approximately 8,000 acres within the Big Bend Reach. Conservancy staff is restoring native perennial grasslands on marginal cropland with the help from lessees, farmers, and partners like Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Prairie Plains Resource Instate and University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The Conservancy uses a high-diversity seed mixture of grass and forbs species collected in the Big Bend area. 1000 acres of marginally productive cropland has been restored to high-diversity grasslands and wetlands using this locally-harvested seed mixture.