Love is in the air at the Species Survival Center! 💕 The whooping cranes and sandhill cranes are getting ready for chick season. All crane species mate for life, and they have several courtship behaviors that help strengthen their pair bonds throughout the year. They will do many behaviors together in sync, such as preening, foraging, threat displays and unison calling. The most elaborate behavior is their dance. The whooping and sandhill cranes begin to dance in earnest right around Valentine'

We're doing a happy dance – the first Whooping Cranes have arrived at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in coastal Texas! An early report was conveyed by Capt. Tommy Moore late last week. Our Texas staff located the pair this week and observed them exploring several areas of coastal marsh within the Refuge. With these cold fronts crossing the North American continent we should expect more cranes to arrive on their wintering grounds every week! | International Crane Foundation

206 reactions · 16 shares | Do Whooping Cranes ever get lost on migration? Discover the answer in this week's Craniac Short with our Lead Whooping Crane Outreach Biologist Stephanie Schmidt! AND learn more about Whooping Crane 16-23's adventures here > bit.ly/3XRes24 #craniacshort #whooperwednesday | International Crane Foundation | Facebook

Join writer Doreen Pfost for the annual crane migration, when more than half a million Sandhill cranes and a small population of the endangered whooping crane descend on the Platte River to fuel up before continuing north to their breeding grounds in Canada. Explore more at pbs.org/watershed | Nebraska Public Media