72 Microseasons of the Pacific Northwest

Greater sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis tabida) spend the winter on the lower Columbia River bottomlands, concentrating at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington and Sauvie Island Wildlife Area in Oregon. Up to 3,000–4,000 Canadian sandhill cranes winter at these sites — the only major stopover location between their northern breeding grounds and California wintering areas. The lower Columbia bottomlands represent one of the most significant crane wintering concentrations in the Pacific Northwest. Sandhill cranes are unmistakable: standing 4 feet tall with a 6-foot wingspan, entirely grey plumage, and a brilliant red forehead patch, they move through wet fields and marshes with deliberate elegance. Their calls — a loud, rolling, bugling "garoo-a-a-a" that carries for miles — announce their presence before they're visible. At Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge's Carty Unit auto tour route, cranes can be observed at close range from a vehicle from November through late February. Sauvie Island Wildlife Area, accessible from Portland via SR-30, offers open fields where hundreds of cranes forage alongside snow geese and swans. By late February, birds begin showing restlessness before their April departure northward to breeding grounds on the northern coast of British Columbia and Alaska. Watch for pairs engaging in the elaborate "unison call" courtship display — both birds raising their heads and calling in synchronized fashion — as the breeding season instinct builds even during the final weeks of their winter residency. The combination of primordial crane calls echoing across flooded Columbia River fields on a grey February morning is one of the most stirring wildlife experiences in the Pacific Northwest.