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Chapter II <br />WILDLIFE AND THE RIVER <br />The Platte River system is acutely important to certain migratory birds for several reasons. <br />The Platte in Nebraska was naturally and historically a wide, shallow, braided prairie river that is <br />still broad and shallow in some reaches, allowing large numbers of wading birds to roost in it safely. <br />Other rivers in the mid- United States' Central Flyway cannot offer as much. The Platte is also <br />important to migratory birds because it lies directly in the middle of the migratory paths of a number <br />of species. The river's significance is amplified by the fact that suitable wildlife habitat everywhere <br />is rapidly degrading. <br />Approximately 250 species of migratory birds utilize the habitats of the Platte and North <br />Platte rivers in Nebraska to rest, nest, and/or feed. These include six species - -the Eskimo Curlew, <br />Whooping Crane, Bald Eagle, Least Tern, Piping Plover, and Peregrine Falcon - -that are federally <br />listed as endangered or threatened and about 75 percent of the species on the 1986 Audubon Blue <br />List.' Of these 250 species, more than 120 migratory bird species nest in the Platte valley, including <br />one endangered species, one threatened species, and about two - thirds of the Blue- listed species <br />(Tate 1986). Some 66 migratory bird species winter along the Platte, including at least 12 birds of <br />prey. <br />The Eskimo Curlew, which is near extinction (and was long thought extinct) formerly <br />gathered in such enormous flocks on the Platte River's wet meadows each spring that they were <br />shot by the wagonload. It is possible that the few survivors still use the Platte valley during migration <br />(C. Faanes 1988, pers. comm.). <br />Sandhill Cranes, like Eskimo Curlews of former times, congregate each spring in enormous <br />flocks on the Platte and North Platte rivers. Of all migratory bird species, Sandhill Cranes are <br />uniquely dependent on the Platte for their survival. Wildlife observers from all over the country <br />come to witness this world -class gathering of wings. <br />1 The Audubon Blue List is an "early warning list" of species not federally listed as threatened or <br />endangered but that are showing local or widespread population declines. <br />