Whooping Crane(Grus americana)

By: Aaron Sluss

Morphological Characteristics• Tall bird- nearly 5 feet• Adults white with red patch on crown• Long white neck• Dark legs, dark pointed bill, and black facial markings.• In flight, black wingtips are visible• Inner wing feathers droop over the rump, called a" bustle” whichdistinguishes cranes from herons• Sexes alike

Other Characteristics• Adults weigh between 12 and 15 pounds• Wing span of nearly 8 feet• Life Span of 22-24 yrs (wild)• Gets its name from its loud bugle-like trumpeting call ker-loo ker-lee-loo • http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/

CraneNotes1.html#8• Heard from 2 miles• Long trachea which coils twiceInside the breast bone

Habitat• Whoopers use a variety of habitats for

different times in the year.• Breeding: mixed forest and wetlands• Migration: croplands, marshes, and

submerged sandbars.• Winter: bays and coastal marshes

Feeding Characteristics• Wetlands: feed on clams, insects, fish,

frogs, crabs, and crayfish

• Uplands: feed on insects, snails, small rodents, and acorns

Breeding

• Start pairing on wintering grounds• http://whoopers.usgs.gov/videos2.htm• Monogamous• Don’t start breeding until 4 or 5 years• breed in the large marshes adjacent to the

Sass, Klewi, Nyarling and Little Buffalo Rivers

• each pair establishes a territory of 1.5 square miles.

Nesting• Did not know where they nested for years.• Usually nest once, but will nest again if nest is

destroyed. May even skip a year.• Nests can be floating or built up from the bottom

of the pond. • Nests are usually built of bullrush, sedge or

cattail. • Clutch size: 2-with one surviving• Incubation: 1 month. Duties shared by parents

Recruitment

• Varies greatly from year to year

• Low as 12% to highs around 78%

• Average of about 45 per cent

Factors that affect recruitment

• the number of pairs actually nesting• the number of viable eggs produced• weather conditions at time of hatching and

during the ensuing weeks • habitat conditions (water levels)• abundance of food • Predators (bobcats) (eagles)

Juveniles• Cinnamon and white colored• young remain with their parents for the

summer • Parents feed them larval, or inactive,

forms of insects such as dragonflies, damselflies, and also snails, clams, leeches, and small fish.

• able to fly at about 90 days of age

Migration• Usually in groups of less than 10.• Make a 2600 mile trip from Wood Buffalo

National Park in Canada to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

• Starts trip in late September and arrives in mid to late October to mid November

• Special flying method: uses an energy-efficient combination of spiraling and gliding that allows it to fly nonstop for incredible distances (up to 450 miles).

What Happened to the Whooper?

• Not that many to begin with.• Are susceptible to many factors during

migration. (Diseases, weather, and drought)• Delayed breeding maturity

Two main factors that caused rapid decline:1) man-made changes of habitat (esp. wetland losses)2) hunting, and feather and egg collecting.

Recovery of the Whooper

• Migratory Bird treaty Act of 1918• Wood Buffalo National Park est. in 1922• In 1937, the Aransas National Wildlife

Refuge established.Listed as a Threatened and Endangered

species in 1973.

Recovery Cont..• Captive Breeding• Difficult to do because of their sensitivity to

humans. (Imprinting)• http://whoopers.usgs.gov/videos2.htm• Remove the “extra egg”.• Artificial insemination• Foster parents

Flocks of the Past VS Today's

• Estimated that in 1870 there were around 500-1400 birds

• Went to a low of 15-20 in 1941

• As of 2000 282 in wild and 106 in captivity

• More pandas than whoopers

What must be done to continue the success

• Establishment of another migratory flock• Support of the Canadian public for the

management of whooper nests and eggs• Publicity and hunter educationPreservation of wetlands along the cranes’

migration route

Any Questions??