MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Now, a remarkable story of recovery from the Upper Midwest that sounds like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF SANDHILL CRANES TRILLING)
KELLY: That loud, rattling bird call - it's the sandhill crane. Every fall, tens of thousands of them stop at a wildlife refuge in Central Minnesota as they migrate south for the winter. Kirsti Marohn of Minnesota Public Radio News reports.
KIRSTI MAROHN, BYLINE: Well before dawn, volunteers start gathering at a maintenance building on the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. Clothed in warm layers and blaze-orange hats, each gets a clipboard and a pencil. A biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kris Spaeth, assigns each volunteer a counting spot.
KRIS SPAETH: So you'll take 70 West then. Same thing then - just take birds that are going north...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Right.
SPAETH: ...Over you. Who wants to try the new spot?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I'll do that.
SPAETH: You want to try that?
MAROHN: The crane counters fan out to their designated locations. Spaeth hops into a pickup and heads down a gravel road to a spot overlooking a sprawling wetland. It's an ideal place for sandhill cranes to rest for the night, perched on one leg in the chilly water, camouflaged in the cattails and rushes.
SPAETH: A reason they stage here and stick around here is because there's an abundance of food in the agricultural fields that surround the refuge.
(SOUNDBITE OF SANDHILL CRANES TRILLING)
MAROHN: The darkness lifts. The cranes begin to take flight - just a few at first, then more and more - wings stretching nearly seven feet across, lanky legs trailing behind them.
SPAETH: Thirty, 32, 34, 40, 43.
MAROHN: Spaeth keeps a running tally, peering through binoculars and writing the totals on her clipboard.
SPAETH: The sounds never get old out here. It's really cool.
(SOUNDBITE OF SANDHILL CRANES TRILLING)
MAROHN: A century ago, sandhill cranes had nearly vanished from Minnesota due to overhunting and habitat loss. Spaeth says federal protections, both for cranes and wetlands, contributed to their comeback.
SPAETH: These birds wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the actions of a lot of people over the last several decades to conserve habitat that's important to them and regulate things like hunting.
MAROHN: Despite their recovery, sandhill cranes still face threats - wetlands drained for farming or development, collisions with power lines or wind turbines. And climate change impacts when the cranes will arrive and how long they'll stay. This year, warmer temperatures delayed their migration by several weeks. In the last 30 years, the number of sandhill cranes at the Sherburne Refuge has surged from around a thousand to a record of 29,000. This has attracted more visitors hoping to glimpse the distinctive birds and to hear their full-throated call.
(SOUNDBITE OF SANDHILL CRANES TRILLING)
STEVE WINSLOW: They're so different than anything else. You know, I always think, when they fly over, their sound is prehistoric. It sounds like dinosaurs or something.
MAROHN: This is volunteer and bird lover Steve Winslow's first season helping with the counting of the cranes.
WINSLOW: There isn't a day I can go out and not see a crane, I feel like, around this area. And it's the same story as the bald eagles and the wild turkeys and everything. So there's some big success stories in the birding world, and I think sandhill cranes are part of that.
MAROHN: When the count is over, the staff and volunteers add up their numbers. Spaeth announces the day's total.
SPAETH: Today we had 17,727.
MAROHN: Soon, colder temperatures will set in, and these graceful birds will take to the skies, headed for warmer climes. For NPR News, I'm Kirsti Marohn, in Zimmerman, Minnesota.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE PUTH SONG, "LOSER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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