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Conservationists take new steps to keep whooping cranes alive

Tim Eisele
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  10/15/2008 9:01 am

NECEDAH -- There is something noble, elegant and mystical about cranes.

That explains why conservation groups have invested so much time and energy in preservation efforts for the whooping crane, which continues its comeback after the population dwindled to just 15 birds at the outset of World War II.

Another important development in that effort occurs Friday, when the Eastern Whooping Crane Partnership is scheduled to begin its eighth annual guided southern migration of young cranes who must be taught the 1,200-mile path to winter homes in Florida.

This time, there is a twist.

The class of 2008, which includes 14 cranes that were hatched in captivity this year, will be split between two refuges -- a reaction to the devastating storm that swept through Florida in February 2007, killing all of the juveniles who had flown south.

Also, the migration path and destination have been altered slightly. The young birds will follow an ultra-light plane from their home at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and fly in short hops down to the panhandle of Florida. There, half of the young whooping cranes will follow the plane to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, where they will spend the winter.

The plane then will return to the Florida panhandle and lead the remaining birds to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge for the winter.

"The rationale is to have two wintering sites so if a natural disaster occurred, we wouldn't lose all the birds," explained Beth Kienbaum, the Wisconsin whooping crane coordinator at the Department of Natural Resources. "In addition, the flight path will be a little westerly of where it has gone before in order to avoid the dangers posed by the Appalachian Mountains."

In addition to this group, another eight young birds are part of the Direct Autumn Release program, where young birds are reared in isolation but then are released in small groups with adult wild whooping cranes at Necedah. The young birds will follow the adults south to Florida when the adults migrate in November.

The young birds migrate back north on their own the following spring and then migrate with other adult cranes each following year.

Splitting the population in an attempt to protect it is the same philosophy that led to the creation of the Eastern Whooping Crane Partnership in 2001.

During the 1900s the only wild whooping cranes nested at Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta and migrated to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. In 1941, that population dwindled to 15 birds, and there was concern the whooping crane was headed in the direction of the passenger pigeon.

With protection efforts and the Endangered Species Act, that population increased to more than 200 birds. But biologists realized that cranes still could disappear in the event of a severe storm or disease. So they hatched a plan to establish a second migratory flock, reintroducing young whooping cranes to the marshes of central Wisconsin after a century's absence.

The crane recovery effort is coordinated by a partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Operation Migration, the International Crane Foundation, the Natural Resources Foundation and other organizations.

Whooping cranes are raised in captivity, without seeing humans.

There are now 69 adult whooping cranes in the eastern migratory population. The biggest challenge of the program now is to see the adults nest and produce young. Only one bird so far has been produced in the wild, back in 2006.

"We were very excited by the 11 nests this spring, but our frustration is to understand why the adults abandoned all the nests," Kienbaum said.

One hypothesis attributes that tendency to the cranes' young age and inexperience at breeding.

"We will be more intensively monitoring nests next year using observers in blinds and high-definition cameras," Kienbaum said. "We'll also document and compare food availability at Necedah compared to other wetlands used by cranes."

Kienbaum is pleased with the wetland habitat choices the birds are making as they explore the upper Midwest, and the project is on track for a population of 125 birds by 2020. The challenge is to reach the goal of 25 consistently breeding pairs by that time.

To Wisconsin's delight, the primeval call of the crane continues.

Tim Eisele (teisele@chorus.net) is a full-time freelance outdoor writer and photographer. He is a founding member and past president of the Wisconsin Outdoor Communicators Association and active member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Tim Eisele
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  10/15/2008 9:01 am