With the changing of the seasons from summer to fall the majority of our surveys are wrapped up. Eleanor and I have been collecting seeds for future restoration efforts and helping out wherever needed. But the one survey that starts around the beginning of October, and is heavily dependent on the subjects of the surveys, is Whooping Crane Behavioral Surveys!
Group of adult Whooping Cranes
We sometimes refer to these surveys as Whooper Chasing. In a sense that is exactly what we do. We receive GPS coordinates where Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) are and hop in one of the trucks to go find the “whoopers”. Once located, we make sure to maintain a minimum distance of 0.4 miles (2,000 ft or >610m) to not disrupt or disturb the Whooping Cranes. It is against the law to disturb or harass Whooping Cranes. We set up a scope in the truck and have a camera with a long zoom range to be able to gather all the data we need from a distance. When we are all set up to begin the survey we will watch the whoopers for a minimum of 30 minutes. In that time we conduct instantaneous scan sampling, where we count the number of Whooping Cranes displaying different behaviors in one-minute intervals. Sometimes we are able to access our Crane Blinds if the Whooping Cranes are on the Trust property. I think my favorite behavior column is the “loafing” section on the datasheets. “Loafing” refers to when the Whooping Cranes are resting/not doing too much while still standing. In addition to recording behavior we also record a variety of habitat variables such as, management history, distance to water, water depth, distance to woodland, distance to paved roads, distance to powerlines, and more. We are trying to get a general idea of what kind of habitat Whooping Cranes are choosing in each particular sighting/survey. This allows us to better understand what behaviors and activities are done in each habitat selected by Whooping Cranes. For example foraging behaviors are very common in corn fields but the birds are more socially active when in natural habitats (river, wet meadows, etc.). It shows us that a variety of habitat is needed on the landscape in order to fill all of a Whooping Crane’s needs during migration..
Bethany, Emma, and Eleanor conducting Whooping Crane Behavioral Survey in Blind
Photo by: Kylee Warren
Eleanor surveying Whooping Cranes through scope on truck window
Photo by: Bethany Ostrom
Adult Whooping Cranes
Pair of adult Whooping Cranes
Another important piece of information we look for is whether or not there are color bands present on their legs. The bands are specific colors placed in a unique order and location to represent a single individual, no two banding patterns are the same. Banded Whooping Cranes in the population that we see at the Trust (the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population) were banded in the wild. If you spot a banded individual and get a photo make sure to report it to the proper channels/organizations. Your sighting can help researchers understand migration, habitat selection, and other pieces of important information. Also you can report sightings (even if not banded) as well to help researchers, like the Crane Trust, so we are able to go collect behavioral and habitat data. The reporting process is different depending on where you are located but a simple google search can help point you in the right direction. I’ll list a couple websites down below for anyone who is curious! Any help is greatly appreciated!
Three Adult Whooping Cranes: one with GPS tracker and color bands
Adult with color bands and GPS with Juvenile
Now a little more information about Whooping Cranes (Grus americana). The Whooping Crane is North America’s tallest bird standing around 5 ft tall and has a wingspan greater than 7 ft! I think one of the coolest things about the Whooping Cranes that migrate through and use the Platte River is that they are a part of the only wild and self-sustaining population, which migrates from Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Canada down to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas during the fall. They travel more than 2,400 miles through Canada and the US Great Plains to the Texas mid-coast (McAbee & Conkin, 2024). There is a reintroduced population of Whooping Cranes that migrate from Wisconsin down to Florida. There are even a couple non-migratory groups of Whooping Cranes in Louisiana and Central Florida! If you want to learn more about Whooping Cranes you can visit the FWS website or the Crane Trust Website.
I will say Whooper Chasing has been a ton of fun for me. I had never seen a wild Whooping Crane before this fall during our surveys. I have even been able to see a couple juvenile Whooping Cranes! One of the juvenile Whooping Cranes was very red! It is so cool to be able to study these birds and help out the Federally Endangered species by collecting information on both behavior and habitat that can help with future conservation efforts. I also still cannot comprehend just how vibrant white the feathers of the Whooping Cranes are. They stick out so easily on the landscape and you cannot mistake them for anything else! I can’t wait for the next Whooper Chase!
Thanks for reading. Till next time!
Emma Richards
Lila O. Wilson Biological Monitoring Fellow
erichards@cranetrust.org
Two adult Whooping Cranes with Juvenile (red)
Photo by: Bethany Ostrom
References
McAbee, K., Conkin, J.. 2024. Whooping
Crane Recovery Activities: 2022 Breeding Season to 2023 Spring Migration. https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-03/annual_report_whooping_crane_recovery_2023_aransas.pdf