Each year, Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and Parks Canada staff conduct aerial surveys over the extensive wetlands of Wood Buffalo National Park, (WBNP) that the cranes nest in and call home for the summer. These surveys occur at the end of May for the purpose of locating nests and then again in late July to count the number of chicks fledged.
Parks Canada and CWS were in the air again this past Spring and late summer of 2022 searching for whooping crane nests and crane chicks amongst the extensive wetlands of the park. Water levels on the nesting territory were higher than normal for the 2022 whooping crane nesting season. However, park and wildlife officials were still able to observe 96 nests during their spring nesting survey. 13 of those nests were found outside of the boundary of WBNP and 26 nests were outside of existing identified critical habitat (range expansion).
61 Colts will make their first migration
Photo: courtesy of Parks Canada and John McKinnon
During the summer, 61 colts were counted during the fledgling survey. Of the 61 counted, 11 families were observed having 2 colts. So if you see a higher number of “twins” wintering with their parents in Texas this year, you’ll know why.
CWS and Parks Canada cooperate to survey the Aransas Wood Buffalo breeding population. Annual monitoring of nests and fledgling numbers, estimates of the breeding population size and annual reproductive success, respectively, have been conducted in WBNP since 1966 via aerial surveys. Record numbers of nests (nearing 100) have been recorded in recent years. The long term 20-year average of fledgling survival is 0.49 fledglings per nest (so 2022 was a very good year compared to the average in terms of nest and fledgling success).
***** 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.
While visiting her daughter and her family in Corpus Christi, FOTWW friend Ginny Barber and the family had the opportunity to go birding. Their first encounter with Whooping Cranes was on a birding excursion on a boat out of Fulton,TX into the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge three years ago and they have been hooked ever since. This year was the second year they have seen a pair from the Leonabelle Turnbull Center. Last year the pair had no colts and stayed further out. This year the pair had colts with them.
Ginny was nice enough to send us some lovely photos taken from Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center during this year’s excursion and visit. We hope you enjoy her photos posted below. Be sure to click on them to enjoy them at full size.
FOTWW thanks Ginny for sending us her wonderful photos of the Port Aransas family. It is nice to see the colts learning how to be Whooping Cranes.
Migration of the only natural wild population of whooping cranes is underway. The Whooping Crane migration from Wood Buffalo to Aransas NWR is about 2,500 miles in length and can take as many as 50 days to complete. The flock is expected to migrate through Saskatchewan, Nebraska, North Dakota and other states along the Central Flyway over the next several weeks. The Wildlife Fish and Game and Parks agencies along the flyway encourage the public to report any whooping crane sightings.
If you should observe a whooping crane as they migrate along the Central Flyway, please report them to the proper agencies. We have compiled a list of agencies and contact information below. If you need help with identification, please click on our Whooper Identification page.
Canadian reports
Any sightings of Whooping Cranes in Canada:
Whooping Crane Hotline is 306-975-5595. That will get you to Wildlife Biologist John Conkin. Leave a detailed message for a callback.
Montana reports
Allison Begley
MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks
1420 East Sixth Avenue
Helena, MT 59620
abegley@mt.gov
(406) 444-3370
Jim Hansen
MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks
2300 Lake Elmo Drive
Billings, MT 59105
jihansen@mt.gov
(406) 247-2957
North Dakota
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at Lostwood, (701-848-2466)
Audubon, (701-442-5474)
National wildlife refuges
North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, (701-328-6300) or to local game wardens
South Dakota
Eileen Dowd Stukel: Eileen.dowdstukel@state.sd.us
Casey Heimerl: Casey.heimerl@state.sd.us
Natalie Gates: Natalie_Gates@fws.gov
Jessica Dowler: Jessica_Dowler@fws.gov
Nebraska
Nebraska Game and Parks (402-471-0641)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (308-379-5562)
The Crane Trust’s Whooper Watch hotline (888-399-2824)
Emails may be submitted to joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov
Kansas
Jason Wagner
jason.wagner@ks.gov
(620-793-3066)
Ed Miller
ed.miller@ks.gov
(620-331-6820)
Whooping Crane sightings at or near Quivira NWR should be reported to:
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
620-486-2393
They can also be reported to this email: quivira@fws.gov
Matt Fullerton
Endangered Species Biologist
(580-571-5820)
Mark Howery
Wildlife Diversity Biologist
(405-990-7259)
Texas
Texas Whooper Watch also has a project in I-Naturalist that is now fully functional. You can find it here. You can report sightings directly in I-Naturalist via your Smart Phone. This allows you to easily provide photo verification and your location.
If you are not a smart phone app user, you can still report via email: whoopingcranes@tpwd.state.tx.us or phone: (512-389-999). Please note that our primary interest is in reports from outside the core wintering range.
Do not disturb and why reporting is important
Should you see a whooping crane during migration, 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. If the whooping crane is wearing bands or a transmitter, please note the color(s) and what leg(s) the bands are on.
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 500 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. If you are, please report your sighting so that these agencies and other conservation groups, including FOTWW can continue helping these magnificent cranes.
***** 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.
Population estimate shows continued signs of winter range expansion for the endangered bird
Last winter, an estimated 543 whooping cranes arrived on their Texas wintering grounds after migrating 2,500 miles from their breeding grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. Each fall the birds make their way back to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding habitats, where they spend the winter. Once they have arrived, wildlife biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) survey the birds by air and analyze population trends.
Record year
“It is exciting to see another record year as whooping cranes continue to increase in number and expand their winter range,” saidWade Harrell, the Service’s Whooping Crane Recovery Coordinator. “Next year, we will be adding the South San Jose Island and Heron Flats Secondary Survey areas to our Primary Survey area given we detected enough whooping crane groups there to meet our protocol for inclusion. Conserving additional winter habitat for the species will be a key component of future recovery efforts.”
31 Juveniles
Whooping Crane Parent and colt. Lamar, Texas Photo by Chuck Hardin
Preliminary data analysis of aerial surveys of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo whooping crane population conducted last winter indicated 543 whooping cranes, including 31 juveniles, in the primary survey area (approximately 160,125 acres) centered on Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Austwell, Texas. This is an increase with the last survey from winter 2019-2020 estimating 506 whooping cranes, indicating the population has grown over the last two years.
An additional 38 birds were recorded outside the primary survey area during the survey, which is also a record high. This marks the fifth year that the population has topped the 500 mark, although a survey was not conducted during winter 2020-2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.
Harrell said biologists plan to conduct the next survey in January 2023.
Whooping cranes are one of the rarest birds in North America and are highly endangered. Cranes have been documented to live more than 30 years in the wild. Adults generally reach reproductive age at four or five years, and then lay two eggs, usually rearing only one chick.
Need more info?
More information about the survey and whooping cranes can be found on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge website or by calling the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Contact Station at: 361-349-1181.
***** 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.
