Each year in March, 30,000 sandhill cranes migrate from New Mexico to the north, stopping in the San Luis Valley for a few weeks to fuel up on alfalfa and barley at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge.
The birds that migrate through Colorado are the largest of the North American sandhill subspecies standing four feet tall with a wing-span of up to seven feet and weighing in at 11 pounds.
Their distinctive calls can be heard for miles. They have an unforgettably loud trumpeting call. It is produced by a modified windpipe that has been likened to a French horn. The birds are most abundant at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, located six miles south of the town of Monte Vista on Colorado Highway 15.
