In many cultures, cranes are symbols of love and longevity. But do they live up to their reputation? It turns out that cranes are about as monogamous as people. There are some pairs that stay together for life, and there are some that do not. Often, mate switches happen when one bird dies and its mate “steals” a mate from another pair. One recent example of this, is of the well-known “cow pond cranes” (11-09 and 15-09) that wintered near Tallahassee, Florida. Earlier this year, female 26-07 died on the breeding grounds. After her death, her mate, 11-02, re-paired with the “cow pond” female, 15-09. As a result, 15-09’s previous mate, 11-09, was left lady-less. In years past, 11-09 and 15-09 were somewhat of local celebrities on their wintering grounds, where they spent most of their time in a visible cow pasture. Volunteers in the area have helped keep tabs on the cranes, as well as have gone to great lengths to educate local people about cranes and the reintroduction efforts. Amy and I stopped by the famed cow pond on our travels. Even though 11-09 has a non-functioning transmitter, we attempted to track him since he is usually visible. However, 11-09 had other plans. Almost as soon as the sun came up, he took off and we were unable to follow him. However, the day was not totally lost since we had the opportunity to meet some very friendly and helpful people. Additionally, we were able to find the leading lady, 15-09 in northern Alabama on her new mate’s usual wintering grounds. However, we were only able to locate them via telemetry. The terrain was such that we weren’t able to see them or get great signals. A local landowner reported seeing four Whooping Cranes in the area a few weeks prior, and we did get signals from two other cranes, so it seems that 15-09 and 11-02 have a couple of friends this year! |
1 Comment
Sharon Leigh Miles
1/20/2016 11:20:36 am
You DID see 11-09!!! He is definitely a famous crane and well loved by many. We are in hopes that he might find a mate at St. Marks. He doesn't seem to lack for friends though Ms. Karen reports daily on facebook his coming and going. She is indeed a special lady. I hope you were about to meet her also.
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Hillary ThompsonThese are updates and newsletter articles I have written about my work with Whooping Cranes. Archives
February 2016
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