Welcome to the Nebraska Sandhills! Plants The Nebraska Sandhills contain a  unique diversity of plants still functioning in healthy prairie ecosystems. There are 720 different  species of plants growing throughout the sandhills, the vast majority of which are native. On this site you will find photographs of a wide variety of flowers and grasses found throughout the sandhills. Animals The large, contiguous native grassland, as well as the many thousands of scattered wetlands, makes the Sandhills an excellent place for a variety of animals to thrive as well. It is the central flyway for migrating birds, including a number of birds which are becoming increasingly rare. The sandhills is also home to small mammals such as Kangaroo Rats and Porcupines as well as large mammals such as Pronghorn Antelope and even Bison. Landscape Geographically, the Nebraska Sandhills is one of the most unique areas in the world. Spanning almost 20,000 square miles (almost 1/4 the area of Nebraska) the sandhills is the largest sand dune formation in North America. The sand was thought to have been brought into the area originally by water and blown into dunes by wind (think of the Sahara Desert.) Precipitation eventually brought grassland plants whose roots stabalized the soil and kept the dunes frozen in place. In addition to the sand, another unique aspect of the sandhills is that it is resting on one of the largest aquifers in the world. The Ogallala Aquifer consists of 1 billion acre-feet of ground water and comes above the surface at the base of many dunes. Thus the sandhills is a region of dry and sandy grassland dunes with many thousands of lakes and wetlands scattered between them.