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While we are best known for providing world-class opportunities to experience the spring Sandhill Crane and Whooping Crane migration, Rowe Sanctuary is a continentally important area for birds and serves as a stronghold for over 240 species year-round. Our open access river discovery stations provide excellent opportunities to observe the shallow waters and wide, braided nature of the Platte River along with millions of waterfowl like geese, ducks, swans, and pelicans. You can also watch as hundreds of eagles hunt on the river during the winter months, and a diverse mix of shorebirds and seabirds forage on sandbars following the crane migration.
Along the banks of the river, our lowland mixed-grass prairies are a great place to spot grassland birds. Check out our feeders from the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ center for sparrows, nuthatches, blackbirds, woodpeckers, and finches. From our wetland observation deck, you can search for marsh birds and riparian breeding birds such as flycatchers, warblers, vireos, orioles, and mimids.
These birds are at the heart of everything we do- from habitat management to regional advocacy and educational programming. Rowe Sanctuary staff host a wide array of that highlight these species. To learn more about these birds and ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡â€™s conservation work to protect them, visit the links below.
Check out our for recent bird sightings at Rowe Sanctuary.
1
This big, elegant sparrow is a bird of the heartland, nesting in north-central Canada, wintering mainly on the southern Great Plains. Because of its remote habitat and shy behavior in summer, its nest was not discovered until 1931, long after those of most North American birds. Harris's Sparrow is more easily observed in winter on the southern plains. Flocks feed on the ground near brushy places, flying up when disturbed to perch in the tops of thickets, giving sharp callnotes.
2
A flat-headed, short-tailed little sparrow of the fields, the Grasshopper Sparrow may go unnoticed even when it is singing, because its song is much like the buzz of a grasshopper. The birder who learns this sound may spot the bird perched on a weed stalk or the lowest wire of a fence. When not singing, the bird stays out of sight; if disturbed it flies away low for a few yards before diving headfirst back into the grass.
3
Found in several scattered areas of North America, Sandhill Cranes reach their peak abundance at migratory stopover points on the Great Plains. The early spring gathering of Sandhills on the Platte River in Nebraska is among the greatest wildlife spectacles on the continent, with over a quarter of a million birds present at one time. Although they are currently very common, their dependence on key stopover sites makes them vulnerable to loss of habitat in the future.
4
One of the rarest North American birds, and also one of the largest and most magnificent. Once fairly widespread on the northern prairies, it was brought to the brink of extinction in the 1940s, but strict protection has brought the wild population back to well over one hundred. The flock that winters on the central Texas coast flies 2400 miles north to nest in Wood Buffalo National Park in central Canada; this remote breeding area was not discovered until 1954.
5
Our smallest tern. Often seen flying low over the water, with quick deep wingbeats and shrill cries. Usually hovers before plunging into water for tiny prey; does more hovering than most terns. Populations are endangered in many areas because of human impacts on nesting areas, especially competition for use of beaches. However, Least Terns in some parts of the east are now nesting successfully on gravel roofs near the coast.
6
A small plover with a very short bill. Its pale back matches the white sand beaches and alkali flats that it inhabits. While many shorebirds have wide distributions, this one is a North American specialty, barely extending into Mexico in winter. Many of its nesting areas are subject to human disturbance or other threats, and it is now considered an endangered or threatened species in all parts of its range.
7
Remarkably similar to the Eastern Meadowlark and Chihuahuan Meadowlark in colors and pattern, this bird is recognized by its very different song and call notes. The meadowlarks evidently can easily recognize their own kind in the same way; even where Western Meadowlarks overlap with the other two species in the Midwest and Southwest, they almost never interbreed. However, they do seem to see each other as potential rivals, and they actively defend territories against each other.
8
Fluttering over meadows and hayfields in summer, the male Bobolink delivers a bubbling, tinkling song which, loosely interpreted, gives the species its name. The male is unmistakable in spring finery, but before fall migration he molts into a striped brown appearance like that of the female. Bobolinks in this plumage were once known as 'ricebirds' in the South, where they occasionally used to cause serious damage in the ricefields.
9
In the Midwest in summer, male Dickcissels sometimes seem to sing their name from every wire, fencepost, or weed stalk in prairie or farming country. Very erratic in summer occurrence, they may nest in large numbers in an area one year and be totally absent there the next, presumably as a response to rainfall and its effect on habitat. Away from their mid-continent stronghold, migrant Dickcissels are often detected by their electric-buzzer callnote as they fly overhead. Most winter in the tropics, but a few spend the winter at bird feeders in the Northeast, where they usually flock with House Sparrows.
10
The national emblem of the United States since 1782, the Bald Eagle is a cultural and spiritual symbol, a symbol of freedom, democracy, environmental ethics, and wilderness. Native American cultures consider the Bald Eagle a sacred symbol of strength, spirituality, and connection to the Creator; the National Eagle Repository recognizes the significance to federally recognized tribes and provides Bald Eagle feathers and parts for religious purposes. Bald Eagle populations have significantly recovered since the 1970s, with populations breeding throughout is historic range in the United States and Canada.
11
Parts of Europe and Asia have several kinds of harriers, but North America has only one. Harriers are very distinctive hawks, long-winged and long-tailed, usually seen quartering low over the ground in open country. At close range, the face of our Northern Harrier looks rather like that of an owl; like an owl (and unlike most other hawks) it may rely on its keen hearing to help it locate prey as it courses low over the fields.
12
The only native quail in the east. Its whistled bob-white! call is a familiar sound in spring in farmland and brushy pastures. The birds are heard more often than seen; although not especially shy, they often keep within dense low cover. During fall and winter, bobwhites live in coveys, averaging about a dozen birds. At night they roost on the ground in circles, tails pointed inward, heads pointed out.
13
This striking and unmistakable bird was a favorite of early ornithologists such as Alexander Wilson and ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡. Often conspicuous because of its strong pattern, harsh calls, and active behavior in semi-open country, it tends to occur in small colonies. Although it migrates only short distances, little groups of migrants may be noticeable in early fall and late spring. Once a very common bird in eastern North America, the Red-headed Woodpecker is now uncommon and local in many regions.
14
Small and plain in appearance, this sandpiper is important in terms of sheer numbers. It often gathers by the thousands at stopover points during migration. Semipalmated Sandpipers winter mostly in South America, and studies have shown that they may make a non-stop flight of nearly 2000 miles from New England or eastern Canada to the South American coast. The name 'Semipalmated' refers to slight webbing between the toes, visible only at extremely close range.
15
Until the 1970s, this bird and the Alder Flycatcher masqueraded as just one species under the name 'Traill's Flycatcher.' They are essentially identical in looks, but their voices are different. Either kind may be found in thickets of either willow or alder shrubs, but their ranges are largely separate: Alder Flycatchers spend the summer mostly in Canada and Alaska, while Willow Flycatchers nest mostly south of the Canadian border.
16
When it is glimpsed in low brushy thickets of the Midwest or Southwest, this bird looks totally nondescript. When it is heard, however, it is easy to recognize, singing a jumbled clinking song, as if it had a mouthful of marbles. The species has become less common in recent years in many parts of its range, partly because it is a frequent victim of cowbird parasitism; many pairs of Bell's Vireos succeed in raising only cowbirds, not their own young.
17
Widespread across North America, Europe, and Asia, the Northern Pintail is probably one of the most numerous duck species in the world (although outnumbered by the omnipresent Mallard). Slim and long-necked, it has an elegant appearance both on the water and in flight. Pintails are wary at all seasons, and become very secretive during the flightless stage of their molt in late summer.
18
The bright, sweet song of the Yellow Warbler is a familiar sound in streamside willows and woodland edges. This is one of our most widely distributed warblers, nesting from the Arctic Circle to Mexico, with closely related forms along tropical coastlines. Their open, cuplike nests are easy to find, and cowbirds often lay eggs in them. Yellow Warblers in some areas thwart these parasites by building a new floor over the cowbird eggs and laying a new clutch of their own. In one case, persistent cowbirds returned five times to lay more eggs in one nest, and an even more persistent warbler built six layers of nest floors to cover up the cowbird eggs.
In 2025, a Motus tower was installed at Rowe Sanctuary. Thousands of towers have been installed globally to detect banded birds that fly near these towers.
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