Wildlife
Migration Flyways: 3 Live Cameras — Mississippi and Platte
Three cameras in the United States: the Mississippi riverbank, the sandhill crane roost on the Platte, and a seasonal wetland pond in California.
What you can see
All three point at places where migrating birds gather.
The Mississippi Flyway (Brice Prairie, Wisconsin) watches the riverbank of what is one of North America's great migration corridors. The provider lists pelicans, cranes, ducks and eagles as what you can expect. It is run by the Raptor Resource Project.
Sandhill cranes on the Platte (Gibbon, Nebraska) is the closest view of the migration, from Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary. The five miles of river this camera covers is one of the densest roosts in the world, and at peak migration 100,000 to 200,000 birds gather there. Once a flock arrives it stays about three weeks. Some mornings the birds leave a few at a time; on others tens of thousands lift off at once like a cloud.
The Sacramento refuge pond (Willows, California) is a wetland pool that fills seasonally. The refuge complex holds nearly 35,000 acres of habitat, and snow geese, mallards and other ducks, and pelicans all turn up.
Cameras you can watch now: 3
All 3 are live video. Tap one to open it in the camera list.
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Live video
Mississippi Flyway
Wisconsin, Brice Prairie · Wildlife · River
The Mississippi is one of North America's great migration corridors, and this stream looks out over the river at Brice Prairie, Wisconsin. The operator lists pelicans, cranes, ducks and eagles among what turns up. Run by the Raptor Resource Project.
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Live video, dawn and dusk
Sandhill cranes on the Platte (Rowe Sanctuary)
Nebraska, Gibbon · Wildlife · River
Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary offers one of the closest views of the sandhill crane migration on Nebraska's Platte River. The five-mile stretch this camera covers is one of the most densely populated crane roosts in the world, with 100,000 to 200,000 birds at the peak. Groups stay about three weeks once they arrive, and early morning and evening are the times to watch. The morning liftoff comes either in small groups as the sun rises or, more often, as tens of thousands leaving at once in a cloud.
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Live video
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge pond
California, Willows · Wildlife · Nature
A seasonal wetland pond filled with migrating waterfowl and raptors. The refuge complex covers nearly 35,000 acres of habitat, and snow geese, mallards and other ducks, pelicans and more pass through.
When to watch
Only the Platte camera comes with a season from the provider: early morning and evening. For the other two the provider gives no season. These are migration cameras, so what is on screen changes through the year, but we are not going to invent a date for it here.
The Mississippi and Platte cameras are 14 hours behind Japan (during daylight saving). Local 05:00 is 19:00 in Japan, and local 18:00 is 08:00 the next morning. So the crane season falls in the Japanese evening and the following morning.
Sacramento is 16 hours behind (during daylight saving), an hour later again. Outside daylight saving all three shift an hour later.
If it isn't showing
All three also appear on the United States page. The wildlife cameras are collected under Wildlife and the riverside ones under River.
For cranes in Japan there are The cranes of the Izumi plain and The cranes of Kushiro Marsh. For more American birds, Bird Feeders and Ospreys.
How to pick a time to open them is in Which cameras are in daylight now.
Where to find Migration Flyways
Agencies publishing the cameras on this page
- explore.org (Deep links and embeds OK, no image reuse) — Official site
The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.