Into the Outdoors: For the bird watcher, nothing beats seeing a whooping crane
Comments (...)Every outdoor sport has a “crown jewel” or pinnacle. An event that is worthy to brag about and remember forever. For most sportsmen, these heralded moments usually come after many years of dedication and countless hours of failures.
For the whitetail enthusiast this usually entails the taking of a monster buck that usually graces their wall for generations to come. For the fisherman, that might be a lunker Largemouth that breaks the 10-pound mark. The list goes on and on.
For the birdwatcher there is an event that is so important that it may not be matched. You may be wondering what it could possibly be? For those who love to follow birds, seeing a wild whooping crane has got to be about as good as it gets.
I was not aware of the frenzied following this tallest of North American birds has until last fall. We had a small flock of whoopers resting here in Grundy County as they were migrating from the far north to the deep south.
The attention this bird received was mired in secrecy. At first I wasn’t sure what all the hush-hush was about until it was explained to me. This bird is so popular that if word got out there would be hundreds of people lining the roadways trying to get a glimpse of this regal water bird. In other words, to keep the flock safe and comfortable, those who knew of their existence wanted to make sure that they went undisturbed. Being as close as we are to millions of people in and around Chicago, I can understand.
The whooping crane rests atop the popularity list because it is so critically endangered. There are very few of these birds in the wild today. It is estimated that during the late 19th century there were about 1,400 birds in the wild. In the early 1940s this number precariously slipped to just fifteen! Currently, the most accepted number of wild whooping cranes is around 104.
There are several organizations that dedicate themselves to helping migratory birds. One of those organizations is called Operation Migration. They are dedicated to helping these birds make a successful comeback and are driven to succeed. They track, monitor and help these birds by guiding them on their migration with the use of an ultralight.
According to the organizations website, whooping cranes are very communal. They live in close proximity to one another which for all of its benefits, does have some major drawbacks. One of those potential problems is that a single disease or infection could wipe them all out. They say the survival of these birds is depended on “separate and additional flocks.” This is what Operation Migration is trying to do.
To create this separate flock has taken the help of mankind. That is where the ultralight comes in. The birds need to be taught the flight from their summer grounds to their winter haunts in the south. Since 1967 folks in Canada and the United States have worked cooperatively to preserve a bright future for these birds.
These birds are often times confused with several other migratory birds such as Snow Geese and The American White Pelican. It is real important to make sure that we can identify these birds because not only is it illegal to shoot or harm these birds, it is also detrimental to the well-being of the flock.
Like snow geese and pelicans, whooping cranes are brilliant white. They have tremendously long wing spans and a long neck. Unlike pelicans and geese though, whooping cranes trail their legs straight out behind them. This is the easiest way to distinguish this bird in flight from any other white bird.
Unfortunately, just several weeks ago a hunter in Indiana shot a whooping crane and killed it. Now, I don’t know the details of whether this was an accidental shooting or not because of mistaken identity, but it doesn’t matter. A hunter needs to be well-versed in what different migratory birds look like. Ignorance is not an excuse. Not only did this hunter hurt the wild population of whoopers, he also gave all of us that hunt a bad name in the press.
A quote from Robert Porter Allen really says it all, "For the Whooping crane there is no freedom but that of unbounded wilderness, no life except its own. Without meekness, without a sign of humility, it has refused to accept our idea of what the world should be like. If we succeed in preserving the wild remnant that still survives, it will be no credit to us; the glory will rest on this bird whose stubborn vigor has kept it alive in the face of increasing and seemingly hopeless odds."
Knowing what I do now, I am glad that I had a chance to see these birds here in Grundy County. There is a chance I may never see one in the wild again. Hopefully that is not the case. With groups like Operation Migration they still have a fighting chance.
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Minor correction to your article please. The article stated there were 104 Whooping Cranes in the wild. Actually there are approximately that many in the eastern flock (the flock established by Operation Migration and the WECEP coalition). This flock migrates between Wisconsin and Florida each year. The only other wild flock migrates between Texas and Canada and contains approximately 300 birds. This is the flock that was at 15 birds in the early 1940s and where all the current birds are derived. There are another 100 birds in captavity (zoos, refuge displays, research facilities). |
