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Sandhill cranes in Alabama: winter

Sandhill Cranes in Alabama: Where and When to See Them

One viewing site, the months its manager names, and today’s sunrise and sunset at each.

Winter
In the state
per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1
Viewing site
1 on the map
199
Reports, last 12 months
iNaturalist research grade
Winter

How sandhill cranes use Alabama

A diversity of habitat types provide excellent feeding, resting, and roosting sites for wintering waterfowl and Sandhill Cranes, as well as nesting sites for neotropical migrant birds and many species of resident wildlife.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read October 8, 2026. Read it at the source
Where to go

Where to see sandhill cranes in Alabama

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, national wildlife refuge, Decatur, AL

Today, the refuge attracts thousands of wintering waterfowl and cranes each year.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read October 8, 2026. Read it at the source
When
“winter”
Where to stand
“The Visitor Center, The Wildlife Observation Building, the Photography Blinds, Atkeson Cypress Boardwalk, and Visitor Center grounds are currently open Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00-4:00, March-October.”

October 8, 2026 at this site, CDT

Sunrise
6:48 AM
Sunset
6:22 PM

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, read October 8, 2026

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On the map

Alabama crane sites by month

Style
Layers

A pin is colored only when the refuge or agency that runs it prints that month. The shaded grid is where people have logged a verified sandhill crane on iNaturalist in October, in any year, brighter where more have been logged; it maps reports, so it thickens where observers stand.

Through the year

When people report sandhill cranes in Alabama

More reports come in January than in any other month. The tally runs from October 8, 2025 for the twelve month figure; the bars combine every year on record.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
861 research grade records from Alabama, every year combined, by the month they were made. Most are logged in January. A record is a person’s photograph confirmed by others, so the bars count sightings rather than birds.

199 research grade sandhill crane reports from Alabama in the twelve months to October 8, 2026.

Reading the last thirty days of reports from iNaturalist.

The rules

Sandhill crane regulations in Alabama

Alabama holds a sandhill crane hunting season.

Hunting zone will be that area north of Interstate 20 from the Georgia state line to the interchange with Interstate 65, then east of Interstate 65 to the interchange with Interstate 22, then north of Interstate 22 to the Mississippi state line.
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, read October 8, 2026. Read it at the source
By Limited Quota Permit only.
From the same source, read October 8, 2026. Read it at the source

Waterfowl and crane season dates in this state

Alabama sandhill crane questions

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Sandhill cranes in other states

Sandhill cranes in every stateThe map of where the cranes are this month, the gatherings and the festivals.Fall migration in AlabamaThe geese, swans and cranes staging this fall, site by site.Eagle watching in AlabamaThe winter eagle sites and the months to visit them.Duck migration reportThe waterfowl counts the refuges publish each week.
About seventy grey sandhill cranes standing in shallow open water and on a strip of tan grass in front of a green tree line
Cranes standing in shallow water in October, the habitat every site on these pages shares. The water keeps them safe overnight; the harvested fields around it feed them through the day. “Flock of wading sandhill cranes”, USFWS Pacific Southwest Region, Public domain

Every fact about Alabama’s cranes links to the refuge, agency or festival page it comes from, each read October 8, 2026. Tour loops, platforms and festival programs change between seasons and close for weather and work, so check the site’s own page before you drive. Sunrise and sunset are computed for each site’s coordinates. Report tallies are iNaturalist research grade records, which count sightings, not birds. Every state is on the sandhill crane migration hub.