The cranes fly to Arizona from cooler northern locations and have been tracked as far away as eastern Siberia.
It has become a yearly ritual for bird lovers, wildlife buffs, and residents of southeastern Arizona to marvel at the descent of tens of thousands of cranes on the Willcox Playa. With gray-feathered necks extended outward, the sandhill cranes flock in droves and drop their thin legs into Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area in McNeal, an area dominated by an ephemeral lake, patchy marshlands, and semi-arid grasslands.
Whitewater Draw is open to the public for viewing and Game and Fish says anyone who can make the trip to McNeal will witness one of the largest wildlife migrations in the state. “Sometimes the camera is deceiving because it looks like there are no cranes, but you can hear them on the camera,” he said. “And you can usually hear them because they are gathered in large numbers on the other side.”
On occasion they will fly out to feed again in the afternoon and return in the evening around sunset. The birds soar through the Willcox Playa in the daytime, and at nightfall they will sink their legs into the marshy waters that protect against predators, like larger birds, wolves and coyotes. But like many things in nature, that sweet spot is crucial to survival. Not enough rainfall can dry out crops that the birds rely on and diminish their access to food. Too much rainfall will flood the draw and affect their ability to hunt for snacks like bugs and small mammals.
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