Sandhill Cranes root around for seeds and other foods in the shallow wetlands of this refuge. They eat during the day, fly a short distance to the Rio Grande in the evening, and then fly back out to the fields the next morning. The irrigated farmland in this refuge produces quantities of waste corn, wheat, and sorghum as nutrients. During our second day in the refuge, we passed fields that supported thousands of these cranes. This group was feeding fairly close to the road. They allowed me to get reasonably close before scurrying off.