Rfalconcam Forum

As many members of the Forum have shown interest in the recently concluded migration of the young whooping cranes, I have pulled together more information to give a more complete picture of the efforts being made and the progress achieved in the reintroduction of the whooping crane.

A major player in the effort is the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  Their mission is the preservation of habitats and the establishment of breeding programs for all fifteen crane species.  Here is their web site:

http://www.savingcranes.org/

Due to loss of habitat, human predation, the population in the wild of whooping cranes was reduced to 16 in the flock that winters in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.  That flock grew to about 200 in 2006.  A non-migrating population that grew to about 54 in 2006 was established in Kissimmee Prairie in central Florida.  In 1999, the effort to establish a migrating flock east of the Mississippi was begun.  Chicks from captive cranes were hatched artificially in various locations and transferred to the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin.

See whooping crane population figures here:

http://www.savingcranes.org/images/stories/pdf/species/whooper_table.pdf

You can read about early efforts at:

http://www.savingcranes.org/whoopingcrane.html

Young whooping crane chicks are transferred to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge where they are cared for by costumed keepers and trained to fly behind ultra-light aircraft.  A host of agencies and groups are a part of Operation Migration.  The methodology was first developed by two Canadians who used it to teach a migration route to Canada geese.  This was beautifully depicted in the film Fly Away Home with Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin.  Operation Migration successfully used this technique on sandhill cranes and the next year, 2001, began its work with whooping cranes.  We all have followed the progress of this year’s class.

You can read the Operation Migration field journals here:

http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html

Additionally, another group of chicks have been introduced to adult whooping cranes and sandhill cranes living in the Necedah refuge.  This is called the Direct Autumn Release program.  The chicks live with the adult cranes and migrate with them.

You can find updates on the DAR migrating birds here:

http://www.savingcranes.org/whoopingcranereintroductionupdates/8.html
 
As you can imagine, all of these activities are labor intensive and costly.

One can donate to Operation Migration at:

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=7IP_-QApuVcF6s73xixABu3Q9N03n-VYOBx94OQDtdtnrO2FGJyJKCKp6fi&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1fc53a056acd1538879f614231735d88db02692aa5ce177198

And the International Crane Foundation at:

https://www.savingcranes.org/donateonline.php

If ever you are in south central Wisconsin, do visit the International Crane Foundation.  A pair of each of the world’s fifteen crane species can be seen, although the day I was there, the whooping cranes were having some alone time in the tall reeds!

And, yes, cranes are one of my passions!

Gayle

Thanks for the good information, Gayle!

Very good story Gayle...thank you.

This is not a story.  It is a collection of data and references to provide the curious reader with an increased understanding of the difficulties of establishing a new migratory flock of whooping cranes.

If this is the gatekeeper's imprimatur, I guess I should be grateful.

Oh duh sorry, info.... :D

I am in awe of the dedicated people who work tirelessly for the whooping cranes. The birds released under the Direct Autumn Release program are monitored by people who follow them from the ground.  Here is an account of attempts to replace failed transmitters.

http://www.savingcranes.org/anotherattemptedcapturejanuary282010.html

A photograph is included.

Gayle

Chassahowitzka Crane Release: Who Let the Cranes Out? February 3, 2010

A charmingly written account of the final release of the ten chicks at this location can be read here:

http://www.savingcranes.org/chassahowitzkacranereleasewholetthecranesoutfebruary32010.html

Gayle

No kidding, charmingly written!
That's great!
"tacit promises of intra-species companionship," indeed!
Thanks, Gayle!

What a long successful day for the oversized whoopers. Great post gayle...thanks. Hope they do well.

To date, I have been unsuccessful in locating a current whooping crane census, but I did learn in a communication today from the International Crane Foundation that the population of  the reintroduced flock now numbers approximately 105.  This is the flock being sheparded by Operation Migration.  Interestingly, the first member of the class of 2009  to reach Florida was Direct Autumn Release chick #42-09 who got there the old fashioned way, by migrating with an adult!

Gayle

it wasn't a short cut - thing is, if you don't waste time rolling around giggling at the "costumes" - which gives cranes the hiccups - you make better time to Florida.
Migrating with the hiccups is a bear.

Anyone up for naming their firstborn, got the old-fashioned way, "Direct Autumn Release"? It's catchy.

Thanks, Gayle.

Another well written account of the successful exchange of worn transmitters for new ones!

http://www.savingcranes.org/whoopingcranecapturesmarch112010.html

Gayle

Another update from Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge and the class of 2009.  One of the chicks is missing.  The remainder of the flock is exhibiting pre-migration behavior.

http://www.savingcranes.org/updatefromchassahowitzkanwrmarch162010.html

Gayle

Oh that's so sad Gayle. Poor baby. Hope the rest fare well on their Migration.

Ten whooping cranes have completed their northward migration to the Necedah Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.  The class of 2009 is still in Florida however.

http://www.savingcranes.org/whoopingcranesbackinwisconsinmarch192010.html

Gayle

The tracking crew is preparing for the northward migration of the young whooping cranes.

http://www.savingcranes.org/zugunruhemarch232010.html

Gayle

Hope they do well...rootin for them.

Part of the class of 09 is on its way northward!

http://www.savingcranes.org/classof2009ultralightledwhoopingcranesdepartonspringmigrationmarch252010.html

Gayle

Good luck guys! Thanks Gayle.

Eight of the juveniles from the class of 2009 are nearly back to their summer range at Necedah!

http://www.savingcranes.org/nearlytheremarch302010.html

Gayle

Thirteen juveniles have completed the northward migration and are back at Necedah!

http://www.savingcranes.org/firstclassof2009ultralightledcranescompletespringmigrationapril12010.html

Gayle

Love the map...they took exactly the same route home. Smart cranes. Thank you gayle.

Neb. bird watchers asked to respect whooping crane

Associated Press - April 3, 2010 9:05 AM ET

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - State officials are warning bird watchers not to approach or disturb endangered whooping cranes.

Causing the birds to flush to flight is considered harassment and a violation of the federal Endangered Species Act and state conservation law.

Whooping cranes, sandhill cranes and many other migratory birds stop in Nebraska in the spring to rest and feed on their way north to breeding grounds.

The Game and Parks Commission says a person recently disturbed a whooping crane in central Nebraska while trying to get a photo of the bird. Officials say such disturbances put the cranes at greater risk of deadly collisions with power lines or moving vehicles.

Fewer than 600 whooping cranes remain in existence.

On the Net:

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/

All but two of the remaining juveniles have begun the northward migration from Floride.

http://www.savingcranes.org/cranesdepartchassahowitzkanwronspringmigrationapril52010.html

Gayle

Nesting activity of whooping cranes at Necedah.

Eight nests have been spotted in or around the Necedah Wildlife Refuge.  Hurray!  This is the goal of all of the efforts of Operation Migration.  Now for some nesting sucess!

http://www.savingcranes.org/whoopingcranesonnestsapril62010.html

Gayle

Thanks Gayle for the updates.  It is great to see Success!

More news of the migration of the juveniles at Chassahowitzka NWR.  Those watchers really have a big job and are doing it well!


http://www.savingcranes.org/chassahowitzkanwrcranesmigrationdays2and3april122010.html

Gayle

Finally, the last two laggards leave Florida!

http://www.savingcranes.org/betterlatethanneverthelast2009chicksleavefloridaapril142010.html

Gayle

The unpunctual pair certainly made tracks once they got going!

Nice information.   I remember the National Geographic special on Whooping cranes.  These web pages show what happened to the "rocky mountain" flock (which is now gone with the exception of some "snowhill" cranes (cross breed cranes).

I found a beautiful photograph of a whooping crane (as well as other birds) at:

http://my.madison.com/post/Groups/Birds_and_the_Environment/photos/whooping_crane.html

Gayle

Another progress report on the migration of the juveniles.

http://www.savingcranes.org/chassahowitzkanwrcranemigrationdays3456april192010.html

Gayle

that's so crazy, trying to keep track of packs of flying dinosaurs taking off in so many directions!  It's really amazing to read.

White Ghosts of the Wetlands... America's Whooping Cranes

Here is a radio program from Radio Green Earth and broadcast on NPR that describes the history of the whooping crane and Operation Migration.  Interviews with the principals are included.  It is about 17 minutes long and is awe inspiring.

http://whoopershappening.com/2010/04/08/white-ghosts-of-the-wetlands-americas-whooping-cranes.aspx?ref=rss

Gayle

April 26, 2010—

When she graduated from Michigan Technological University with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, Eva Szyszkoski had never seen a whooping crane. Now, as tracking field manager for the International Crane Foundation (ICF), she migrates with the big white birds each year from southern Wisconsin to Florida and back to Wisconsin, monitoring and tracking the Eastern Migratory Population on its semi-annual trek. While the birds winter in Florida, Szyszkoski helps with winter management of the year’s new crop of juvenile cranes.

An endangered species, the whooping crane is one of only two types of cranes found in the US. At a height of five feet, it is the tallest flying American bird.

There is only one completely wild population of whooping cranes, says Szyszkoski, and it only includes about 260 birds. They migrate from Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada’s Northwest Territories to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Her Eastern Migratory flock consists of cranes reintroduced to the Eastern US since 2001. It now numbers 103 birds, quite a change from the early 1940s, when whooping cranes numbered as few as 15, mostly due to hunting and habitat loss. After their breeding grounds were discovered in the mid-1950s, captive populations were established and bred, Szyszkoski explains, and now the wild population is slowly increasing.

There are two ways of reintroducing cranes. In one, the birds are raised in the breeding grounds and accustomed to the sound of an ultra-light plane. Then they follow their surrogate plane-parent south to Florida, thus learning the migration route. “The ultra-light plane method is expensive and creates a very unnatural situation for the birds, but it does enable us to introduce a large number of birds each year,” Szyszkoski says.

The other approach is called Direct Autumn Release. Chicks are hatched and raised on the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, about 45 minutes north of the Wisconsin Dells. “They hopefully follow older, more experienced birds south,” the crane specialist explains. This method is more natural and less expensive, but it only enables the team to introduce up to about 10 birds a year.   However, “it is showing increasing signs of success every year,” she says.

Szyszkoski started working with the ICF as a Direct Autumn Release intern in 2007. She became Tracking Field Manager for the organization in 2008.

It takes more than a thorough knowledge of whooping crane physiology and ecology to do what Szyszkoski does. It takes a gentle hand and a big-white-bird costume. The costume, which she always wears when she is making direct contact with the cranes, doesn’t make her look exactly like a whooping crane, “but it does help mask the human figure, which is important,” she says. “We try to avoid as much contact with people as possible.”

In addition to helping the juvenile cranes survive their first winter, Szyszkoski and her team color-band the birds with radio transmitters, so they can track them on their migration north in the spring and during their wandering and nesting once they get back to Wisconsin. Weighing 53 to 55 grams—less than 2 ounces—the VHF transmitters don’t slow the big birds down much. Since an average whooping crane weighs 15 pounds, even a bird with two transmitters is coping with less than 2 percent additional body weight.

“Reproduction is currently the main obstacle to the success of the reintroduction of the whooping cranes,” Szyszkoski says.  “The birds pair, build nests, lay fertile eggs and incubate them normally for a while, until something drives almost all of them to abandon their nests over just a day or two.”

One theory is that in warm weather, blackflies that feed on the birds get so bad that the cranes can’t take it and leave their nests, the crane expert explains. “I have visited a couple of nests after abandonments have occurred, and the blackflies in the nesting marsh are horrendous,” she says.

The ICF is working with blackfly researchers to analyze the problem and try to come up with solutions.

Why put so much effort into saving the whooping cranes? “Humans were the ones who destroyed the population in the first place,” the Chassell native observes, “and since we do not own the cranes, nor have we created them, we have an obligation to restore them to nature.”

I finally had the time to listed to the whole story. It's incredible, as are the individuals whose life stories somehow brought them to work with the cranes.   Thanks, Gayle!

Gayle - This is wonderful information and very interesting.  Thank you so much for keeping us posted.  Falcon Watching is MUCH easier!   :happy:

Carol, glad you found this to be informative.  Yes, the crane watchers have unique challenges!  This is a subject near and dear to me.

Gayle

Well Carol, compared to what they go through to "keep" after the Whoopers.....Falcon Watching is pretty close 2nd. Not easy keeping track of all them eyases, once they scatter. I say "both" are pretty rough stuff. At least you don't have to wear a falcon costume.  :-[

I love the way they dress up to teach and feed the whoopers, it amazes me.  :2thumbsup:

I'd love to see Carol in a falcon costume!    :hysterical:

The correct terminology is whooping crane.  Whoopers are Euroopean swans akin to our trumpeter swans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whooper_Swan

Gayle

With big yellow feet!  Cool!   :2thumbsup:

Gayle - Have you ever joined the crane watch?  Sounds like it would be very interesting.

No Carol, I am 2,000 miles away from either end of the migration!  I support the effort in other ways.

Two of the Direct Autumn Release chicks have established a nest.

http://www.savingcranes.org/firstactivedarnestconfirmedmay52010.html

Other nesting news is not so optimistic,

Gayle

Wonderful news gayle..thanks! Hope they hatch!

The June 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine contains a good article on whooping cranes.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/whooping-cranes/holland-text

Check out the photo gallery and the map as well.

"Whooping Cranes, Journey North" gives a good analysis of probable success rates of reproduction.

http://learner.org/jnorth/tm/crane/Eggs_HowManyMakeCrane_BJ.html

Survival rates are likely similar for other species too.  The Journey North site contains a wealth of information.

Gayle

Two whooping crane chick hatched on May 31, 2019.  A photograph and article, including the interesting back story of the female, can be found here:

http://www.savingcranes.org/two-whooping-crane-chicks-hatch-at-necedah-nwr-june-2-2010.html

Gayle

Here is another article from the Milwakee Sentinel:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/95382539.html

Gayle

I had to find pictures of whooping crane chicks.
http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/images/highres/whooper4.jpg
http://www.babyanimalz.com/images/images2/Whooping%20Crane%20Chick.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/25jq9gb
thanks, Gayle!

There are three new chicks!  Complete with phototgraphs.

http://www.savingcranes.org/whooping-crane-chicks-at-icf-june-6-2010.html

Gayle

Very cute! :thanks2:

there we go! great photos of terrific birds! thanks, gayle!

Adorable, thanks gayle 

Thanks, Gayle -- I really enjoyed this!
By some strange coincidence, this video   (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/06/07/VI2010060704609.html?hpid=artslot) appeared in today's Washington Post.

Paul

Thanks for posting that video, Paul.  I am continually amazed at the human effort expended to save this species (and others, such as the condor and the peregrin.)

Gayle

I did find this job posting for migration trackers if anyone has timr to spare!

http://www.stopdodo.com/environment-jobs/whooping-crane-tracking-intern.849.htm

Gayle

More breeding news...

http://www.savingcranes.org/nesting-news-june-9-2010.html

Gayle

Gayle, thanks for all the information and links on whooping cranes.  They are such beautiful and elegant creatures!
Suzanne

The already endangered population of whooping cranes may be in further jeopardy if the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico affects the birds' winter habitat and food systems, says an expert with the Calgary Zoo.

As BP works to stem the oil leaking from the ruptured well, the flock manager for the zoo's whooping crane breeding program says there is growing concern that what has already been spilled will wash up on crane habitat. It's also possible the oil will contaminate the shellfish, frogs and fish the birds feast on after migrating south for the winter.

"Right now, we can only wait and see how much longer this is going to be flowing and leaking and how far it goes," said Dwight Knapik, zookeeper at the Devonian Wildlife Conservation Centre. "Everything like this is a concern."

Experts have spent 65 years trying to rebuild the whooping crane population from the 21 birds left at the end of the Second World War to the 550 wild and captive birds alive today.

The cranes, which lay only two eggs per year and typically raise one chick, can't recover quickly from a dip in the population.

"It takes a long time for them to come back," Knapik said.

The only wild flock left in the world spends its summers in Wood Buffalo National Park and migrates south to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Birds raised through breeding programs -- including those through the Calgary Zoo program -- migrate between central Wisconsin and the northwest coast of Florida.

Aransas in Texas is at less risk for contamination because the prevailing water currents appear to be pushing the water east to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, which will take the brunt of it, Knapik said.

But that could have an effect on the wintering grounds of the flock that has been trained to follow ultralight aircraft from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge to the northwest coast of Florida.

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen has said it will take years to restore environments and habitats affected by the spill. Hundreds of oiled birds have been picked up by wildlife rescue workers in five states, including Texas.

Nearly 700 endangered brown pelicans have died.

Knapik said one of the reasons experts are trying to establish more than one population of cranes by spreading out their summer and winter habitats is so one catastrophic event, such as a hurricane or an oil leak, won't devastate the entire population.

"You can't have all your cranes in one basket," he said.

The Calgary Zoo is home to 2 Whooping cranes

Hurray!  There are six wild hatched chicks at Necedah.  Here is an account of them.

http://www.savingcranes.org/by-the-numbers-five-new-whooping-crane-chicks-hatch-in-the-wild-june-13-2010.html

They are still most vulnerable however.

Gayle

That's amazing...thanks for the link.

Any new wild hatchings are signs of progress in the recovery of this species.

Gayle

I just happened across this video which features the cranes and the ultralights.  It was made on the migration southward the year before Katrina.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGX52B9iXXU&NR=1

And here are two engaged in a mating dance filmed at a zoo.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM_GeD8w0QI

Gayle

wonderful video, Gayle, thanks! 
When that bird pecked the camera lens, I cracked up, but what followed was terrific.
It was great seeing the cranes in flight from above (from the ultralight). Beautifully made little film.

Gayle..thanks, that is amazing. I had to watch it twice, it was that interesting.

 :clap:   Nice little film. Sad those 18 didn't make it.    :wave:

Great videos!  What a dream job...flying an ultralight on a frosty morning with some magnificent cranes behind you...

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/article_6ed581cc-83d1-11df-aca6-001cc4c002e0.html (http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/article_6ed581cc-83d1-11df-aca6-001cc4c002e0.html) 

While the Gulf Coast oil spill looms large for those who work with Wisconsin's migrating birds, the spring brought some much needed good news for the effort to restore a flock of migrating whooping cranes.....

While the faithful Rochester watchers are doing their utmost to ensure the peregrine fledglings are successful, other similiarly-minded people are doing the same with the whooping cranes in Necedah, Wisconsin.  Here is the account of some of those efforts.

http://www.savingcranes.org/egg-swap-july-4-2010.html

Gayle

Three of the wild-hatched chicks survive.    Couple of great photos.

http://www.savingcranes.org/wild-whooping-crane-chicks-update-july-12-2010.html

Gayle

they're very cool. so yellow.

Three out of 7 - and they just disappear...I assume predation...is anything known about who takes them?

Thanks, Gayle!

Bad news and good news.  There are only two wild hatched chicks remaining:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7901247/Forty-ton-whale-lands-on-yacht-during-Cape-Town-sailing-trip.html

The DAR chicks (Direct Autumn Release) have arrived at Necedah from ICF in Baraboo to learn how to be wild whooping cranes:

http://www.savingcranes.org/dar-cranes-arrive-at-necedah-nwr-july-21-2010.html

Gayle

"The chicks will spend the remainder of the summer at the refuge, under the watchful eye and supervision of costumed staff from ICF and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."

the watchful, yet costumed eye and supervision of
staff (costumed) from the International Costumed Foundation and the
U.S. Costumed Fish and
Costumed Wildlife Service, that is. Them, and their costumes.

Nothing is what is seems in Wisconsin.

Dale

Touche!!

Operation Migration's camera on the training ground for the class of 2010 has been turned on:

http://www.wildearth.tv/static/wildearth/channels/we_crane_ground.html

I shall post details as I receive them.

Gayle

 already? summer goes so fast  :P

There will be thirteen chicks in Operation Migratiom class of 2010 this fall.

http://www.savingcranes.org/whooping-crane-update-august-9-2010.html

Gayle

The two wild hatched chicks are doing well and are nearing fledging.

http://www.savingcranes.org/wild-hatched-chicks-nearing-fledging-age-august-16-2010.html

Gayle

The DAR dhicks are doing well.

http://www.savingcranes.org/dar-chicks-at-necedah-august-20-2010.html

Gayle

thanks, gayle.
their names are really terrific!

Hey, it is cheese country!

Gayle

You can see whoping crane chicks live here:

http://www.wildearth.tv/static/wildearth/channels/we_crane_ground.html

Gayle

This is so cool, thanks. You can just see the white at night.

http://www.savingcranes.org/wild-whooping-crane-chicks-fledge-in-wisconsin-august-31-2010.html

Gayle

"The two wild-hatched Whooping Crane chicks have recently fledged, or become capable of flight.  This is only the second time in over a century that naturally produced Whooping Cranes have fledged in the wild in the Midwest!"

that is astounding. Thank you for that information!

 goodnews:   :thumbsup:

Interesting account of the banding of the wild chick.  Great photographs too!

http://www.savingcranes.org/capture-of-wild-chick-w1-10-september-19-2010.html

Gayle

 :thumbsup:  Nice pics :flash:

Thr whooping crane chicks' training has begun!

http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html#092310

Gayle

The wild-hatched chick has been banded.  The account of the capture and great photographs here:

http://www.savingcranes.org/capture-and-banding-of-w3-10-october-12-2010.html

Operation Migration has begun.  You  can follow the journey in the field journals here:

http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html

And if the spirit moves you, you can make a donation here:

http://www.operationmigration.org/contribute.htm

Gayle

w3-10 is just lovely - thanks for the link to its capture in the cranberries!

I like the 2nd pic...looks like they are taking a stroll and chit chatting. So cool!

The eleven Direct Autumn Release chicks have been released into the company of adult cranes.

http://www.savingcranes.org/dar-cranes-released-october-29-2010.html

Gayle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AUOZdjBymk&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AUOZdjBymk&feature=player_embedded) In flight with Ultralight

Thanks!
What a sight to see them all in formation.

Paul

It is good to see them flying.  They have been grounded for days.

Gayle

A progress report n the DAR chicks is found here:  http://www.savingcranes.org/migration-news-november-24-2010.html

Gayle

A progress report on the Class of 2010 may be found here:  http://www.savingcranes.org/whooping-crane-update-december-18-2010.html

Gayle