The entire population of whooping cranes in the Central Flyway is expected to migrate through Nebraska and North Dakota over the next several weeks. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department encourages the public to report whooping crane sightings. Information on crane sightings is used to positively affect whooping crane conservation and recovery efforts.Wildlife agencies in Nebraska and North Dakota are seeking the public’s help in reporting whooping crane sightings as they make their spring migration through the two states.
Nebraska reports
If you see a whooping crane in Nebraska, please report your whooping crane sighting to Nebraska Game and Parks (402-471-0641), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (308-379-5562), or The Crane Trust’s Whooper Watch hotline (888-399-2824). Emails may be submitted to joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov.
North Dakota reports
If you see a whooping crane in North Dakota, please report your whooping crane sighting to, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at Lostwood, (701) 848-2466, or Long Lake, (701) 387-4397, national wildlife refuges; the state Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, (701) 328-6300;; or to local game wardens across the state.
Should you see a whooping crane, please do not get close or disturb it. Keep your distance and make a note of date, time, location, and what the whooping crane is doing.
Reason for reporting
You may wonder why the wild life agencies are asking for these sightings to be reported. The reports are very helpful in gathering data and information on when and where the whooping cranes stopover, what type of habitat they are choosing, and how many there are.
With just over 300 wild whooping cranes migrating along the Central Flyway, odds are low of seeing a wild whooping crane. However, FOTWW hopes that someone reading this article will be one of the lucky few and if you are, please report your sighting so that these agencies and other conservation groups, including FOTWW can continue helping these magnificent cranes.
Whooping Cranes in Flight. Photo by Charles Hardin.
***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
Two endangered whooping cranes winter in the marshland at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Barclay Fernandez/bfernandez@vicad.com
ROCKPORT – Colts in the only wild, self-sustaining flock of endangered whooping cranes have lost much of their cinnamon color.
The almost 5-foot-tall birds have taken on the white plumage of adulthood during their past few months in Texas. Every year the birds fly about 2,700 miles south from their nesting grounds in Canada to their wintering grounds on and around the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveys the birds while they winter in the state. While the service conducted several flights over the wintering grounds in December to count the birds, the survey results will not be available until later in the spring, said U.S. Whooping Crane Recovery Coordinator Wade Harrell.
Poor flying conditions meant observers were unable to count four of the nine days they had pilots and planes available. So observers plan to go out again in February to tally birds in the areas they missed.
Last year, the service estimated 329 birds used the primary wintering range; additional birds were seen outside the survey area. That’s up from less than 20 birds in the 1940s.
The flock’s remarkable recovery has made the birds some of the most famous winter Texans.
Tom Stehn with his L.H Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award on 13 January 2017. Photo by Friends of the Wild Whoopers.
Tom Stehn, retired U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist, received the L. H. Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award in honor of his 32 distinguished years with FWS and 29 years as the United States Whooping Crane Coordinator. The award was presented on 13 January 2017 at the 14th North American Crane Workshop in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The purpose of the L. H. Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award is to recognize those individuals whose efforts have advanced our ability to conserve a species, subspecies, or population of cranes in North America. The NACWG recognizes that there are those within the wildlife conservation community whose body of work constitutes a major contribution to crane conservation.
Tom Stehn received a beautiful photograph of a Whooping Crane as part of his L.H. Walkinshaw Crane Conservation Award.
Friend of the Wild Whoopers congratulates Tom on his award. It is well deserving and when it comes to saving the whooping cranes, no one is more deserving. L.H. Walkinshaw would agree.
A Friend of the Wild Whoopers congratulates Tom on this well deserved honor.
***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
Wade Harrell, U.S. Whooping Crane Recovery Coordinator
Whooping crane family at Aransas National WIldlife Refuge. Photo courtesy of Kevin Sims.
We completed our annual whooping crane abundance survey this week, flying nearly six surveys. Unfortunately, we were plagued with poor flying conditions throughout the survey period. Of the nine days we had pilots and planes available, only five days (Dec. 9, 10, 11, 13, 14) offered safe enough conditions to fly. Of those five days, only two days (Dec. 9 and 13) had good flying weather most of the day, allowing for complete surveys. Fog, rain, low ceilings and high winds all contributed to poor flying conditions. Fortunately, we had two pilots and planes from our Migratory Birds program and four observers available, allowing us to fly more than one survey a day.
Aransas NWR biologist Diana Iriarte and Migratory Birds Program pilot biologist Terry Liddick preparing for the first whooping crane survey of the season
Once again, Terry Liddick, pilot/biologist from our Migratory Birds program, served as a pilot, flying a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Cessna 206. This year Phil Thorpe also served as a pilot, flying a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wheeled Kodiak. Observers were Wade Harrell, Jena Moon (Refuges Inventory and Monitoring biologist), Doug Head(Refuges Inventory and Monitoring biologist) and Stephen LeJeune (Chenier Plains Refuge Complex Fire Program). Doug Head (Refuge Inventory and Management biologist) served as survey coordinator.
Whooping Crane abundance survey results to be released in a few months
Data management and analysis once the actual survey is complete is a significant effort conducted by multiple staff members, so we won’t have the final results to present for a few months. But, I will share some general post-survey observations:
We observed whooping cranes using four units of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (Blackjack, Matagorda, Tatton and Lamar) and 3 Texas coastal counties (Aransas, Calhoun and Matagorda).
Overall, habitat appeared to be in good condition with adequate freshwater resources. Northern portions of the primary survey area (Welder Flats, Matagorda Island Central) appeared to have much more standing freshwater than southern portions of the primary survey area (Blackjack, Lamar-Tatton), presumably due to higher rainfall totals over the last couple months. Coastal marshes had higher than normal water levels due to high tides in the early part of the survey; however tides fell to normal levels this week.
We observed significant amounts of water hyacinth, an invasive freshwater plant, floating in San Antonio Bay, presumably having been flushed out of the Guadalupe River after the last flood event in November. Rainfall in November and December has provided positive freshwater inflows into local estuaries.
This year we did not have as many large group sizes (>8) of whooping cranes in our primary survey blocks, so it is possible that many of the subadult groups we observed in the past few years have successfully paired.We observed at least one family group that included two juveniles (i.e. commonly referred to as “twins”).
Due to poor flying conditions, most of our secondary areas did not get surveyed, but we did have one survey over the Mad Island and Matagorda Peninsula secondary areas. The Mad Island secondary survey area had one family group and two additional adult whooping cranes detected.
A family group of whooping cranes was reported in a rice field near Garwood, TX on December 8th. This area has had whooping crane use the last several years and is well outside (north) of our survey area.
While coastal salt marsh was the most common habitat type that we observed whooping cranes using during the survey, we observed whooping cranes using a wide variety of other habitat types as well, including freshwater wetlands, upland prairies and shrublands, agricultural fields and open-water bay edges.
There are several opportunities for visitors to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to view whooping cranes in publically accessible areas this winter. Whooping cranes have been consistently sighted from the Heron Flats viewing deck, the observation tower and the tour loop near Mustang Slough. We consistently observed a family group of whooping crane in the Mustang Lake salt marsh in front of the observation tower, so you have an excellent opportunity to view whooping crane behavior with a juvenile in tow in their natural habitat.
Whooping Crane abundance survey a collective effort
I want to note that the annual whooping crane abundance survey is a collective effort, with the pilot and observers in the plane only serving one small role within the overall survey. I want to personally thank Joe Saenz, Aransas NWR project leader, for serving as overall manager of the effort; Doug Head, Refuge Inventory & Monitoring biologist as survey coordinator; Josie Farias, administrative staff at Aransas NWR, for assisting with logistics and dispatch; and Grant Harris and Matthew Butler from our Refuge Regional Office Inventory & Monitoring Team for survey protocol development and data analysis.
We will be flying some additional surveys in February in order to complete our survey of secondary areas and train new observers.
Habitat Management on Aransas NWR:
No prescribed burns have taken place yet this winter; however, we are planning for prescribed burns on the Blackjack
Unit, Tatton Unit and Matagorda Unit of Aransas NWR this winter.
Current refuge conditions
Recent Precipitation/Salinity around Aransas NWR:
November precipitation: 2.57” @ Aransas HQ
December precipitation (as of 12/15): 2.62” @ Aransas HQ
Salinity at GBRA 1: averaging around 13 parts per thousand
***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
