Governor Pete Ricketts signed a proclamation Wednesday designating the Sandhill crane as the official migratory bird of Nebraska. This was done during a ceremony at Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon.
“Each spring, up to one million Sandhill cranes gather along the Platte River during their annual journey north,” said Gov. Ricketts. “The migration is a majestic sight that attracts tens of thousands of spectators to central Nebraska. Today, I’m declaring the Sandhill crane as the official State migratory bird in Nebraska. This designation recognizes the Sandhill cranes’ migration as one of Nebraska’s most amazing natural spectacles. It also recognizes the benefit of the cranes to the State’s tourism industry, which warmly welcomes out-of-state birdwatchers each year to marvel at their migration.”
John Ricks is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Tourism Commission who noted that the cranes’ annual migration is a major driver of tourism, attracting travelers from all over the world to Nebraska.
“The annual Sandhill crane migration is a unique, spectacular, and true Nebraska gem, offering visitors from around the world the opportunity to be awed by Mother Nature,” said Ricks. “What the migration looks like, feels like, and sounds like simply cannot be expressed in words; it has to be experienced.”
A University of Nebraska – Kearney research project found that more than 46,000 people visited sites in central Nebraska for the migration in 2017. Ninety-three percent were not locals. The study showed the crane migration had a estimated $14.3 million economic impact on central Nebraska in 2017. That is the equivalent of supporting 182 year-round jobs.