Start of Incubation Incubation begins in early April. Both sexes share incubation. The chicks are known as colts in recognition of their well developed legs. They can leave the nest and run within a day of hatching. First Flight About 10 weeks after hatching Best Season and Time to View Cranes September to early November, late October is best.
Cranes gather each evening in shallow, secluded marshes during migration called staging areas.
In the early morning cranes leave their staging areas to feed in nearby fields. Mornings and early afternoons spent driving roads within five miles of the sanctuaries can sometimes be rewarded with finding large flocks of cranes feeding in farm fields.