From Opus

Photo by bosquebirds
Location: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, USA

Grus americana

[edit] Identification

45-50" (1.1-1.3 m). W. 7' 6" (2.3 m). A very large crane, pure white with black wing tips, red on forehead and cheeks. Young birds similar, but strongly tinged with rufous-brown.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds in n Canada: Wood Buffalo National Park on Alberta-Mackenzie border.

Winters on Gulf Coast of Texas at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. A few winter at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. A captive bred flock has been established in Florida.

[edit] Taxonomy

A monotypic species.

[edit] Habitat

Breeds in northern freshwater bogs; winters on coastal prairies.

[edit] Behaviour

The Wood Buffalo/Aransas flock migrates 2,500 miles each way between its nesting grounds and its wintering grounds. The cranes forage while walking in shallow water or in fields, sometimes probing with their bills. On the wintering grounds in Texas they feed on various crustaceans, molluscs, fish (such as eel), berries, snakes and aquatic plants. During the breeding season in Canada, they feed on frogs, mice, voles, smaller birds, fish, reptiles, dragonflies, damselflies, other aquatic insects, crayfish, clams, snails, aquatic tubers, berries, grasshoppers, and crickets. During migration, waste grain is an important food.

Breeding: The cranes nest in impenetrable muskeg of the taiga wilderness, on the ground, usually on a raised area in a marsh. 1-3 buff eggs, blotched with brown, are laid and incubation is 29-35 days. The parents often feed the young for 6-8 months after birth and the young leave the parents after about 1 year. Usually no more than one young bird survives each season, but in recent years, several pairs have raised twins, in fact the last census in Texas, in April 2007, counted seven whooping crane pairs with two chicks each.

Voice: A trumpet-like call that can be heard for several miles.

Endangered Status:

Eastern Introduced Flock; Photo by earthimages
Location: Central Wisconsin, USA

The Whooping Crane is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. The majestic Whooping Crane was reduced by hunting and habitat destruction to about 15 birds in 1937. Strictly protected and monitored since then, the population has grown to more than 300 birds. A population of about 175 cranes breeds in Wood Buffalo National Park [1], Canada, on the Alberta-Mackenzie border, and winters on the Gulf coast of Texas at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The most recent census in April, 2007, counted 237 birds, which includes a record 45 young cranes that have completed their first migration to Texas - see the Press Release here: [2]

A program to re-introduce endangered Whooping Cranes at Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Idaho ultimately failed. Whooping Crane eggs were hatched by Sandhill Crane foster parents, but the resulting offspring, having imprinted on the Sandhill Cranes, failed to mate with other Whooping Cranes. Some cranes winter at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. A non-migratory population now lives on Kissimmee Prairie, Florida. As of December 18, 2006, this population numbers about 53 birds [3], but there have been problems with high mortality and lack of reproduction, and until these are addressed, no further birds will be added to the population.

An attempt is being made to establish a migratory flock between Wisconsin and Florida. This has involved the re-introduction of the Whooping Crane to a new flyway being established east of the Mississippi river. This project uses isolation rearing of young Whooping Cranes, where they are costume reared from hatching, and trained to follow ultralight aircraft. The organization which is responsible for the ultralight migrations is Operation Migration and the larger group, WCEP (the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership), oversees all aspects of the Eastern Introduced Flock. As of spring, 2007, there are 57 cranes in this flock [4].

[edit] External Links

The Whooping Crane Recovery Plan [5]
More Whooping Crane information at FWS.gov [6]
Updates on census of Texas Whooping Cranes [7]