Sandhill Cranes Spend 'Spring Break' in Colorado.

By MICHAEL MILBERGER

March 29, 2009

In the high mountain desert of southwest Colorado, the temperatures can still be bitterly cold when the first signs of spring appear.

Sandhill cranes feed in barley fields at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge.

(Courtesy Lisa Rawinski)
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"The cranes arriving signify that spring is here," said Michael Blenden, project leader at the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuge. "The Rocky Mountain population of greater Sandhill cranes spend the winter in central New Mexico along the Rio Grande valley. And starting around mid-February they move north to the San Luis Valley here in Colorado. By mid-March to early April they will be departing for their breeding grounds in southern Montana, southeastern Idaho and Wyoming."

About 26,000 cranes flock to the San Luis Valley to take advantage of the food resources and wetland habitat available at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge.

"The migration of the Sandhill crane is pretty unique. There aren't too many places where we see this concentration of cranes," said Scott Miller, Biologist at the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuge.