Knowing their father was in his final hours, Roger Steele and other family members didn't expect to discuss organ donation. After all, Dale Steele, a World War II veteran, was almost 101 years old. Surely, he had nothing that could be used to save another person's life.

Then a representative from Live On Nebraska, an organ donation clearinghouse, approached the Steeles.

ALDA — The world’s largest gathering of cranes draws people from around the world to south-central Nebraska each March.

Some simply enjoy watching sandhill cranes dance in cornfields and on river sandbars. Some listen to the chorus of purrs, ticks and woots. 

More serious “birders” hope to glimpse a flash of bright white amid all the gray feathers — confirmation that endangered whooping cranes have joined the sandhill flocks.