Thousands of Sandhill Cranes from the Great Lakes migrate south to Georgia and Florida, stopping at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Meigs County each winter.
They were almost extinct in the 1800s due to breeding habitat loss and over-hunting. In the 1930s, only 25 breeding pairs of the Eastern population of greater Sandhill Cranes were recorded in Wisconsin.
Sandhill Cranes range from 3-5 ft in height, with a 5-6 ft wingspan.Today, the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge has the largest winter flock of Sandhill Cranes in the southeast United States outside of Florida. The refuge, 6,000 acres on Chickamauga Lake, attracts more than 14,000 birds each winter and even a few endangered Whooping Cranes.
The best time to see the birds is from mid to late November through mid February during the first few hours after dawn and an hour before sunset, according to Melinda Welton, Tennessee Sandhill Crane festival co-chair.
“Our objective is to share the spectacle of these majestic birds and provide a potentially life-changing wildlife experience for visitors,” she says.