What to look for in nature in North Dakota this April

When do sandhill cranes and whooping cranes pass through North Dakota in April?

• Sandhill cranes

  The leading flocks come in early April; the main body is gone by the last week · Shallow wetlands and stubble fields statewide, especially the Prairie Pothole country of the east and center

  A Game and Fish magazine feature reports that the first sandhill cranes reach North Dakota in early April and that the bulk of the migration is over by the close of the month. The department’s biologist John Palarski describes the birds as hustling to reach the breeding grounds and get nesting started, which is why the spring passage is much quicker than the fall one. The same article reports that a late-March survey of the mid-continent population pointed to a stable to increasing trend. The department’s article points watchers to shallow wetlands, so scan the edges of sloughs and nearby stubble, and view from the car so the birds can feed.

• Whooping cranes, a rare passing guest

  Spring migration; no fixed window is published, so sightings are reported as they happen · Wetlands and fields, often with sandhill cranes

  Game and Fish says about 500 whooping cranes migrate through North Dakota each spring on the 2,500-mile journey from Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. A whooper is roughly five feet tall, spans about seven feet with its wings open, has white plumage except for black wingtips, and in flight holds its neck straight out in front with its legs trailing behind. Typically they move alone or as a pair or trio, sometimes in company with sandhill cranes. If you see one, do not approach. Note the date, time, location, what the bird was doing, and any colored leg bands, then report it to the Lostwood refuge at 701-848-2466, the Audubon refuge at 701-442-5474 or Game and Fish at 701-328-6300. The department says reports help biologists find habitat and track marked birds.

• Tracking the flight online

  Spring migration season · Your own screen, before you go out

  The Cornell Lab’s BirdCast posts live migration maps, forecast maps and local alerts for 216 U.S. cities, and Prairie Public’s migration notes recommend it along with Journey North for following arrivals.

Which pelicans, shorebirds and marsh birds return to North Dakota in April?

• American white pelicans at Chase Lake

  Early April for first arrivals; egg-laying from mid-April through May · Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Medina; the adults feed on nearby wetlands and can be seen from county and township roads

  The Fish and Wildlife Service calls Chase Lake the home of one of the largest white pelican colonies in North America, with about a third of the continental population, and says numbers vary from about 4,000 to 35,000 birds. A U.S. Geological Survey study of the Chase Lake and other northern Plains colonies found that the pelicans typically arrived in early April, with eggs laid from mid-April and new nests started through May. The study counted about 17,300 nests at Chase Lake in its peak year, 2006, and found tagged birds feeding 30 to more than 90 kilometers from the colony. The refuge was set aside by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. Nearly all of it, 4,155 of 4,385 acres, is Wilderness, and access is limited, so the way to see the birds is from the roads around it, watching adults fly out to feed and return. In the USGS study the Chase Lake birds typically came back around 3 p.m. When this page was written the refuge’s own page said the road to the refuge was closed because of unsafe conditions, so check there before you drive.

• Piping plovers

  Arrive from mid-April; nesting peaks from late May to mid-July · Exposed, sparsely vegetated shores and islands of alkali lakes and rivers

  Game and Fish lists the piping plover as threatened in North Dakota and says the state holds about 9.7 percent of the breeding population, third among the 20 states that hold any. They arrive from mid-April and nest in shallow scrapes on sandy or gravelly shores. The department asks visitors to keep dogs leashed in plover habitat and to avoid walking toward nests on sandbars and shorelines.

• Long-billed curlews

  Return in mid to late April; nesting peaks late April to late June · Short-grass pastures in the Badlands and Missouri Slope regions

  The curlew is the largest shorebird on the plains, 23 inches long with a 35-inch wingspan, and its long, downcurved bill is the giveaway. Game and Fish places most of the state’s curlews in the Badlands and Missouri Slope, notes that the breeding range in North Dakota has contracted substantially, and ranks the state 13th of 17 for its share of the world’s breeding population. The department says they favor open, gently rolling grassland with vegetation shorter than 10 centimeters, and also use cropland and hayland for nesting. If you find a pair, stay on the road.

• American bitterns

  Return from mid-April to mid-May; breeding peaks early June to late July · Wetlands of seven acres or more with tall cattails, rushes and sedges

  The bittern uses cryptic coloring to blend into the cattails and hunts insects, amphibians, small fish and other prey there. Game and Fish says North Dakota ranks first of 26 states for its share of the global breeding population, about 9.6 percent. The same page warns that wetland loss and a changing climate are shrinking its range. April is early, so look at the very end of the month, or plan a visit for May and June.

• The early mix

  Early to mid-April · Fields, shelterbelts and thawed ponds

  A Grand Forks Herald column from April 2023 lists the birds of an early-April flood: horned larks, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, harriers, merlins, yellow-rumped warblers, fox sparrows and a herring gull, all pressing north to the edge of the snow. Prairie Public’s migration notes add red-winged blackbirds, house wrens, bobolinks and hummingbirds to the list of the season’s travelers. The Datebook segment on the Central Flyway says North Dakota has more national wildlife refuges than any other state.

Which North Dakota birds are drumming, crowing and gobbling in April?

• Ruffed grouse drumming

  Early April through late May, best at dawn · Wooded areas

  The male ruffed grouse beats his wings against the air to make a deep, accelerating drumming sound that advertises his territory. The calendar gives early April to late May for drumming. You will hear the sound far more often than you see the bird, so stand quietly at the edge of a wood on a still morning and let it come to you.

• Ring-necked pheasant crowing

  Early April through early June, according to the calendar · Grain fields, shelterbelts and roadside cover

  The male pheasant’s crow is the farm-country sound of the month. Sources differ on when it starts: the Game and Fish calendar lists early April, while other listings place the beginning in late March, so treat the start as a range.

• Wild turkeys

  Breeding mid-April through late May; the 2027 hunting season has not been posted · Woodland and river-bottom habitat; the department’s turkey page has the details

  The calendar lists the turkey breeding season from mid-April through late May. Game and Fish’s turkey page shows a 2026 spring season from April 11 through May 17, awarded by lottery, with applications due September 2, 2026. The 2027 license information will be posted after the proclamation is signed, so check the department’s turkey page. First-time youth hunters aged 15 and under can apply for a guaranteed license before or during the season.

• Sharp-tailed grouse, still dancing

  Dawn at leks through spring · Native prairie hilltops

  The dancing-ground story from March carries into April: Game and Fish’s calendar puts the breeding season at mid-March through mid-May. Upper Souris takes blind reservations by phone, and its 2027 dates had not been posted in October, so ask the refuge. See March in North Dakota for the full account.

Which North Dakota animals give birth in April, and where can you see bison calves?

• Bison calves in the badlands

  Mid-April through late May, according to the calendar · Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Cross Ranch Nature Preserve and a few other herds

  Game and Fish says free-ranging bison survive in North Dakota in small herds at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, at Cross Ranch Nature Preserve and on a few other public and private lands. Calves weigh about 44 pounds at birth, begin trying to graze at about five days, and nurse for seven to eight months. Cows weigh around 1,200 pounds and bulls up to 2,000, so keep well back. The Park Service asks visitors to stay at least 25 yards from all wildlife, a distance that applies with extra force to cows with calves, and says bison, feral horses and prairie dogs can gore, trample or bite. Dawn and dusk are the best times, and the South Unit’s road, with prairie dog towns beside it, and the North Unit are both on the park’s list of wildlife-viewing places.

• Coyote pups, mink and raccoon

  Coyote pups emerge early April through early June; mink breeding and raccoon young mid-April to late May; river otter breeding in April · Dens in banks and coulees, wooded streams

  The calendar gives early April for coyote pups to begin emerging, mid-April for mink breeding and raccoon young, and April for river otter breeding. You are unlikely to see any of this, but a worn den entrance beside a coulee is a sign: watch from far off and keep dogs leashed.

• Bighorn lambs

  Late April through early June, according to the calendar · Rugged country where bighorn sheep live

  The Game and Fish calendar lists bighorn lambs as born from late April through early June, so the last week of the month is the earliest anyone could see a new one. If you spot ewes on a ledge, watch through binoculars and do not climb toward them.

• Prairie dog pups are still underground

  Young appear above ground roughly six weeks after birth · Prairie dog towns at Theodore Roosevelt National Park

  The Park Service says newborns stay below for about six weeks. The mating in March means few if any appear in April, so for this month the interest is in the adults: watch the sentries and the greeting “kisses” that identify coterie members. Do not feed them. The Park Service warns that fleas on prairie dogs can transmit plague.

When does the ice go out on North Dakota lakes, and when do pike and walleyes run?

• Devils Lake and the culvert bite

  Pike and walleyes move toward shore around mid-April as the ice retreats · Bridges and culverts where current flows, and shoreline bays

  A guide article on Devils Lake says pike and walleyes move toward shore around mid-April when the sun forces the ice to retreat, and that shore fishing has the edge for two to three weeks. A game warden quoted there says that wherever current flows under a bridge or through a culvert, fishermen gather, and parked vehicles crowd the remote gravel roads. For a nature watcher, the same culverts are good places to watch for birds in the first open water. Watch your step and park fully off the road.

• Paddlefish snagging on the Yellowstone and Missouri

  Opened May 1 in 2026; 2027 rules not yet published · The Yellowstone River and the Missouri River west of the U.S. Highway 85 bridge

  Just after April ends, snaggers gather at the confluence near Williston. In 2026 Game and Fish listed snagging as legal from May 1 through May 21, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central, with select days set aside for harvest and release only and a valid tag required. Harvest closed early on May 8 that year, followed by a snag-and-release extension. The 2027 season will be set by Game and Fish: check its fishing pages in April.

• Thin ice and open water

  Through April · Lakes, ponds and rivers

  By April, ice near inflows, bridges and culverts is the first to go, and it can look solid from shore while being unsafe. Stay off it. For flood watchers, the National Weather Service in Grand Forks keeps its Red River and Devils Lake outlooks at weather.gov/fgf; the page for spring 2026 listed outlooks for January, February and March, so look there for 2027 issue dates.

What blooms and leafs out in North Dakota in April?

• Prairie crocus at its peak

  April, per the natural history calendar · South-facing prairie slopes with the snow gone

  Game and Fish lists April as the month the prairie crocus, or pasqueflower, blooms. Look low on dry, sunny slopes where the snow has gone. A warm spell in March can bring the first flowers early, but April is the plant’s normal month. Leave the flowers where they are and photograph them from a few feet away.

• Buds on the shrubs

  Through the month · Shelterbelts, yards and town parks

  NDSU Extension’s Tree Selector sheet for juneberry, also called saskatoon or serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), lists it as a slow-growing shrub over seven feet tall, hardy to Zone 2, with white flowers and purple to black fruit. It is a good shrub for a weekly record: tag one branch on April 1 and photograph it each week to catch when the buds swell and open.

• Arbor Day and Earth Day

  Earth Day is Thursday, April 22; the national observance falls on April 30, 2027; North Dakota keeps its own date, May 7, 2027 · Schools, parks and town tree boards

  Prairie Public’s Dakota Datebook says that North Dakota observes Arbor Day on the first Friday in May, the date the state chose for planting conditions. The first state Arbor Day was proclaimed by Governor John Burk on April 24, 1908. The state counts 53 Tree City USA communities, and the shelterbelts planted on the plains cut blizzard losses, erosion and flooding while giving homes to wildlife. In 2027 the state date falls on May 7, a week after the national one.

How warm is April in North Dakota, and what weather should you watch?

How much daylight does North Dakota gain in April?

When is the last spring freeze in North Dakota?

What can you see in the North Dakota night sky in April?

• The Pink Moon

  Full late Tuesday afternoon, April 20, at 5:27 p.m. Central (4:27 p.m. Mountain) · Low in the east after sunset

  The April full moon is the Pink Moon. The full moment comes in the late afternoon, before the Moon has risen, so the best evening is Tuesday, April 20. At Minneapolis, the nearest city on the verified list, moonrise that evening is at 8:21 p.m.; in North Dakota check your own town’s time and expect it to be the same general hour. The Moon also looks full the evening before and after.

• Lyrid meteors, hurt by moonlight

  Maximum about 8:40 p.m. Central (7:40 p.m. Mountain) on Thursday, April 22 (another calculation puts it about 15 minutes later) · Northeast sky, away from town lights

  This shower is active between roughly April 14 and April 30, with the peak coming on April 22. Three nights past full, the Moon is nearly round (95 percent lit) and comes up late: 10:44 p.m. at Minneapolis, the closest city on the verified list. That leaves only the early evening dark, while Lyra is still low. The International Meteor Organization’s forecast calls it poor, so count on a handful of meteors per hour at most.

• Planets and the Moon

  Moon beside Jupiter on April 14 and 15; thin crescent beside Venus on April 3 and 4 · Jupiter after dark; Venus in the east before sunrise

  Jupiter shines after dark through the spring. On April 14 and 15 a gibbous Moon (68 percent lit) passes it, within a degree on the 15th, and Mars is about three degrees from the Moon that same night. Venus, the brilliant morning star, is sinking toward the Sun: its head start on sunrise shrinks from about 75 minutes on the first of April to roughly 60 on May 1. A thin lit sliver of Moon (9 percent) is close beside it in the dawn sky of April 3 and 4. Saturn is hidden by the Sun’s glare all month.

• Aurora

  Any clear, dark night · Northern horizon from a dark site

  No agency forecasts geomagnetic storms months ahead. On any clear, dark night, check the Space Weather Prediction Center’s 30-minute aurora forecast, and look north from a spot away from town lights.

What can North Dakota families do outdoors in April 2027?

Safety notes for April in North Dakota