America's whooping cranes bounce back

Canadian stay a mystery
How many reach Canada this spring — avoiding such threats as power lines, cell phone towers, wind farms, bobcats and coyotes, and hunters who illegally and perhaps ignorantly shoot at them — won’t be known. The remoteness of the Canadian park, the tall spruce trees that can hide the birds and a nesting area that spans more 1,000 miles makes an accurate count impossible.

That means not until October, when the cranes return to Texas, perhaps with some newborn chicks, will Stehn know if the flock is continuing its slow recovery from near extinction.

The birds, which have a life span of about 25 years, mate for life. A female generally will hatch two eggs in the summer but only one survives. The chick accompanies its parents back to Texas. But unlike most birds, whooping cranes have no genetic code that tells them to migrate to a certain spot.

“Then for the rest of its life, the chick will make the migration back and forth from the nesting grounds and then back here,” Stehn said. “And when it mates, it will try to establish a territory right next to mom and pop.”

This year’s Texas flock, which lost two birds over the winter to natural causes, is up from 194 a year ago, which topped the previous high of 188 counted in Texas in the winter of 2000, he said.

Hurricane help
A number of factors have influenced the gains, among them good rains that helped balance the salt content of the marshes and provide growth for blue crabs, the crane’s favorite food. Hurricane Claudette in 2003 helped reopen a natural pass between the coastal bays and the Gulf of Mexico, also aiding blue crab proliferation.

Refuge managers also use controlled burns to eliminate tall grass, making it easier for the birds to seek acorns on trees without the worry of lurking predators. And refuge managers have constructed ponds to provide alternate fresh water sources for the birds when the marshes get too salty.

The whooping cranes are a good tourism draw, too, with thousands of people from around the world visiting the refuge each year. Many board tour boats that take them close to the rare bird.

What they see is an elegant flyer, wings flapping slowly, neck extended forward and legs trailing. When its wings extend some 7 feet, the crane reveals its distinctive black wingtips. In flight, it’s more akin to the stylishness of a Concorde jet compare with birds that dart through the sky like a fighter jet.

“It’s a magical place,” Barbara Haskins, 62, of Cloona, Ireland, said after seeing the birds during an outing aboard the Skimmer, a boat operated by Rockport Birding and Kayak Adventures. She was joined by her husband, Harry, 68, a retired transportation manager for Dublin-based Guinness Brewery.

“It was well worth the trip,” said Bob Wargel, 64, from Winnetka, Ill., who with his wife, Judy, 61, was part of a group on a birding tour of Texas. “Having the whoopers here made it even better.”

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