Whooping Cranes Wintering Across the Southeastern United States
On a misty morning, a loud bugle echoes across the marsh as the sun is rising over the horizon. A group of large white birds with black wingtips flies overhead as I watch a look of awe cross the face of Whooping Crane Winter Research Intern Sloane Wiggers. It’s always amazing to see and hear these birds, especially for the first time. Whooping Cranes are the tallest flying bird and one of the rarest species in North America. I think about the first time I saw them on their breeding grounds in Wisconsin and I too am amazed by how far these birds have come.
In the late 1940s, approximately 15 Whooping Cranes were wintering at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Nobody knew where they were breeding until the 1950s when they were found on nests at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. After the birds were listed as endangered, multiple reintroduction efforts began to help the species recover. Researchers collected eggs from nests in Canada and started a captive breeding program. Now these young chicks hatch at captive breeding facilities in Maryland and Wisconsin and are reared by captive adult Whooping Cranes or are costume-reared by humans. Some of these chicks will spend the next few months of their lives in the wetlands of Wisconsin, learning where they should spend the breeding season. When fall comes, some juveniles will follow planes south while others will learn the migration route from experienced mature Whooping Cranes. Some of these birds will make it as far as Florida, where Sloane and I watched them grace the coastal marshes.
During the non-breeding season, Whooping Cranes in the wild population are on territories in the coastal salt marshes of Texas. The resource and habitat needs during the winter are well-known for this population. However, relatively less is known about the winter behavior and habitat use of Whooping Cranes in the reintroduced eastern migratory population. In the early years of this reintroduction effort, most cranes were spending the non-breeding season in Florida, but in recent years cranes have been short-stopping migration and spending winters further north. This winter, Sloane and I monitored more than half of the 100 Whooping Cranes in this population from Florida north to Indiana, to better understand winter habitat use in the eastern flyway. By doing this research, we will identify the kinds of habitats cranes are using, which behaviors are associated with different habitat types, and if cranes are interacting with the landscape differently across their wintering distribution.
As those Whooping Cranes fly over us, I think about all of the areas they passed by on their migration from Wisconsin to Florida. What made them decide to migrate all the way to Florida? Why did some birds spend their winters in snowy corn fields in Indiana? Will this decision affect them in the future? These are some of the questions we plan to investigate. Understanding the winter ecology of this population will help Whooping Crane reintroductions be more successful, ultimately helping us safeguard this species from extinction.
In the late 1940s, approximately 15 Whooping Cranes were wintering at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Nobody knew where they were breeding until the 1950s when they were found on nests at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. After the birds were listed as endangered, multiple reintroduction efforts began to help the species recover. Researchers collected eggs from nests in Canada and started a captive breeding program. Now these young chicks hatch at captive breeding facilities in Maryland and Wisconsin and are reared by captive adult Whooping Cranes or are costume-reared by humans. Some of these chicks will spend the next few months of their lives in the wetlands of Wisconsin, learning where they should spend the breeding season. When fall comes, some juveniles will follow planes south while others will learn the migration route from experienced mature Whooping Cranes. Some of these birds will make it as far as Florida, where Sloane and I watched them grace the coastal marshes.
During the non-breeding season, Whooping Cranes in the wild population are on territories in the coastal salt marshes of Texas. The resource and habitat needs during the winter are well-known for this population. However, relatively less is known about the winter behavior and habitat use of Whooping Cranes in the reintroduced eastern migratory population. In the early years of this reintroduction effort, most cranes were spending the non-breeding season in Florida, but in recent years cranes have been short-stopping migration and spending winters further north. This winter, Sloane and I monitored more than half of the 100 Whooping Cranes in this population from Florida north to Indiana, to better understand winter habitat use in the eastern flyway. By doing this research, we will identify the kinds of habitats cranes are using, which behaviors are associated with different habitat types, and if cranes are interacting with the landscape differently across their wintering distribution.
As those Whooping Cranes fly over us, I think about all of the areas they passed by on their migration from Wisconsin to Florida. What made them decide to migrate all the way to Florida? Why did some birds spend their winters in snowy corn fields in Indiana? Will this decision affect them in the future? These are some of the questions we plan to investigate. Understanding the winter ecology of this population will help Whooping Crane reintroductions be more successful, ultimately helping us safeguard this species from extinction.