"Many people visit Whitewater Draw each winter to experience the
memorable sights and sounds of more than 20,000 sandhill cranes. These
birds spend the night standing in Whitewater Draw’s shallow waters to
evade predators, and then fly out each morning to feed and socialize in
the surrounding area. They return to Whitewater Draw in the afternoon and evening.
The number of wintering sandhill cranes in the area has increased
dramatically since the 1950s, probably in response to the abundant food
(primarily corn) available in harvested grain fields. This area is now
the best sandhill crane-viewing site in Arizona. In addition to sandhill cranes, Whitewater Draw’s waters attract many
kinds of ducks, geese, herons, egrets, shorebirds, gulls and terns."
We visited Whitewater Draw yesterday, arriving just after 11, after reading on a birding forum that the sandhill cranes return each day between 11 and 1, after feeding in cornfields up and down the Sulphur Springs Valley. The birds returned to Whitewater Draw like clockwork. It was amazing to watch!
