Greetings all!
The following report is forwarded with permission from Tom Stehn, USFWS
biologist and US Whooping Crane Coordinator.
CONGRATULATIONS to
everyone involved in and concerned about this wonderful recovery effort! Each
time the next delicate milestone is reached, it really crystalizes just how
effective everyone's role is in helping the whooping crane rebuild its
population. From biologists to educators to the sneaker net -- every role is
important!
As spring migration gets underway, please be sure and report all whooping crane
migrational sightings. Tom's email address is in his signature block below.
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An aerial whooping crane census of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and
surrounding areas was conducted on 19 April by contract pilot Gary Ritchey of
Air Logistic Solutions, San Antonio, Texas with observer Tom Stehn.
The census found 7 adults and 0 chicks = 7 total.
Recap of cranes found: (7)
adults + young
Refuge 3 + 0
Lamar -
San Jose 3 + 0
Matagorda 1 + 0
Welder Flats -___
Total 7 + 0 = 7
All but 7 of the 237 whooping cranes (3%) have started the migration from
Aransas. An estimated 65 birds started migration since the last flight on April
10th. Sightings in the migration corridor indicate the whooping cranes are
currently spread out across North America with some having reached southern
Canada. All the juveniles have departed Aransas, including the “twin” juveniles
that had stayed behind when their parents had migrated. The cranes remaining at
Aransas are all believed to be subadults, or non-breeders. These birds, since
they won’t pair up and nest in 2007, do not feel the same urgency to pack their
bags and leave the food-rich marshes of Aransas and face the long, hazardous
trip north.
Three of the birds at Aransas may be the 3 cranes that failed to migrate north
in 2006 and spent all summer at Aransas. One of the three suffered a severe
injury as a juvenile in April, 2004 when it was presumably either bitten by a
poisonous snake or was hit in the head with the talons of a raptor. The bird
nearly died with extreme swelling of the neck and head observed. The bird did
not eat for up to 10 days and spent lots of time sitting down in the marsh,
something cranes rarely ever do. The crane got better and seems fine now, but
somehow it seems to have had the urge to migrate knocked out of it. The bird I
think is a male. I wonder what will happen when it gets a mate and the mate is
in the habit of migrating. Who will the win the discussion about should we stay
or should we head north for the summer?
The total flock size was revised down by one bird yesterday to 236. A dead
whooping crane was found in a farm field on April 18th in North Dakota, about 20
miles south of Mandan. The cause of death was unknown, but it appears the bird
had a broken neck. The bird will be shipped to wildlife health experts to see if
they can figure out what happened. The bird had a red band on one leg. When
photos of the band were sent to me, I identified the bird as r-Y, a male crane
hatched in 1983 that was 23 years old.
A news release about the incident is pasted below.
U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
NEWS RELEASE
To: News Editor/News Director/Webmaster
From: Ken Torkelson, USFWS (701-355-8528) April 19, 2007
DEAD WHOOPING CRANE FOUND IN MORTON COUNTY
Federal and state wildlife biologists have found no evidence of human
involvement in the death of a whooping crane whose remains were found yesterday
in a field near Almont, N.D.
A farmer plowing his field found the remains of the rare bird. A preliminary
inspection revealed the whooper may have suffered a broken neck. Investigators
for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the N.D. Game and Fish Department
said there appeared to be no evidence of foul play. They believe the bird had
been dead for at least one day before it was found, but that it appeared to have
been in good health. The carcass is being sent to the National Wildlife Health
Center in Madison, Wis. for analysis.
An identification band attached to the dead whooper shows that it hatched and
was banded in 1983, making it a very old bird. Biologists say most whooping
cranes do not live much beyond 20 years in the wild.
Tom Stehn, the whooping crane coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service at
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, is familiar with the bird found near
Almont. He called it a productive male. “It first nested in 1986 and brought its
first chick to Aransas in 1987. In 21 years of nesting, it successfully brought
seven chicks to Aransas. It was still a very productive male, having brought six
chicks to Aransas out of the last 10 years.”
The dead bird and its mate both were equipped with radio collars in the early
1980s, recalled Stehn. “We called them the ‘radio pair.’ Not only did they
produce seven offspring, but they provided us with a lot of valuable information
about whooping crane movements.”
Stehn recalled another memory of the whooper found near Almont. “It was involved
in the fastest whooper migration across the United States ever recorded,” he
related. In the fall of 1983, this bird and its parents were in a flock of six
whooping cranes that landed near Pierre, S.D. on Nov. 8. They were found on the
Texas coast just three days later. Stehn explained, “They were pushed by strong
tailwinds and a low pressure system on their way south and must have flown
pretty much non-stop except maybe for some brief stops. The bad weather
connected with the low pressure system kept the tracking crew from staying with
them, and basically the trackers caught up to the birds in Texas.”
There are 236 whooping cranes in the wild. Each spring, they migrate from their
wintering grounds on the Gulf Coast of Texas to their breeding grounds at Wood
Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada. That trip takes
most of them through North Dakota, and state residents typically report several
sightings each spring, and again in the fall on their return.
Stehn said North Dakota residents could see whoopers anytime for the next month
or more. “Most of the flock has left Aransas, and we just had our first sighting
in Canada,” he noted. “There were 21 or 22 birds seen in Nebraska last weekend,
and North Dakota should be just a day or two away for those birds.”
Anyone seeing a whooping crane is asked to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service at (701)387-4397 or the N.D. Game and Fish Department at (701)328-6300.
America’s tallest birds, adult whooping cranes are about five feet tall, with a
wingspan of seven feet. They are white with black wingtips and red markings on
their head. Whoopers frequently accompany the smaller sandhill cranes,
especially during migration. They feed on crabs, crayfish, frogs and other small
aquatic life, as well as plants.
The whooping crane population dropped to an estimated 21 birds in the 1940s, and
they were listed as “endangered” in 1970.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible
for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their
habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, go to www.fws.gov
–USFWS–
Media Contact: For more information, contact Ken Torkelson at 701-355-8528.
Tom Stehn
Whooping Crane Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Aransas NWR
P.O. Box 100
Austwell, TX 77950
(361) 286-3559 Ext. 221
fax (361) 286-3722
E:mail: tom_stehn@fws.gov
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Where applicable, CWS stands for Canadian Wildlife Service; USFWS is US Fish and
Wildlife Service. Crane monitoring involves cooperative efforts and support by
both countries, plus many volunteers and non-profit organizations along the way.
Anyone wanting to contact Tom about the report or the whooping crane projects
can reach him via email at: tom_stehn@fws.gov. Other information, including
archived copies of these reports, can be found at the Texas Whooping Crane web
site at http://www.ccbirding.com/
Patty Waits Beasley
Corpus Christi, TX
email: patty@ccbirding.com
web: http://www.ccbirding.com/