Site Description: Owned and managed by the Crane Trust, this is the largest remaining wet meadow along the River. This 2,500-acre preserve contains an extensive area of sedge meadows along with native tallgrass prairie surrounded by channels of the Platte River. This was the first Platte Valley crane sanctuary to be established. Access is by permission only.

Ornithological Summary: More than 70,000 Sandhill Cranes have been seen foraging together on its pristine wet meadows and as many as 80,000 cranes roost along its river shorelines during peak usage. More than 220 bird species have been reported here. Good numbers of Upland Sandpipers, Bobolinks, Sedge Wrens, Dickcissels and Grasshopper Sparrows nest from May until August. Prairie Falcons, Short-eared Owls, and Northern Harriers are seasonally common.

Links:

http://www.cranetrust.org

http://nebraskabirdingtrails.com/mormon-island-crane-meadows/

For more information, call or write Kevin Poague, Important Bird Areas Coordinator, Audubon Nebraska, P.O. Box 117, 11700 SW 100th Street, Denton, NE 68339 402-797-2301, Fax: 402-797-2304.