Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership

Late April 2010 Project Update

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April 2010 Population Status

As of late April 2010 there are approximately 103 birds in the Eastern Migratory Whooping Crane population, consisting of 58 males and 45 females. The most recent known locations of all birds are shown in the map below. Most birds for which locations are known are in Wisconsin, with an additional 2 birds in Iowa, and single birds located in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. Most of the 2009 cohort have successfully migrated back to Wisconsin, with the exception of the one bird still in Indiana, and several DAR birds whose current locations are unknown.

Nesting Status

At least nine breeding pairs of whooping cranes have already attempted nesting, with most of the nests located on Necedah NWR and one nest on a private cranberry operation. As of April 14, all nests had already failed due to abandonment. This nest abandonment pattern is similar to what has been observed in the past few years. We still have not identified the causes of this abandonment pattern, but ongoing intensive studies will hopefully provide some helpful information. This year, we managed to conduct video surveillance of all but one whooping crane nest from the first nest attempts, and have also been conducting dummy nest experiments and collecting biting insect data at all failed whooping crane nests. We remain optimistic that successful nesting could occur yet in 2010, as there are a number of whooping crane pairs that have not yet attempted to nest, and at least some of the failed pairs are expected to renest.

Aransas-Wood Buffalo Wild Flock

The majority of whooping cranes in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock have already departed for their breeding grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories and Alberta, Canada. Current flock size is estimated at 242 adults and 21 first year birds, for a total of 263.

Reporting Sightings

Please forward any sightings you receive to us through the whooping crane reporting web site we have established for that purpose: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/whoopingcrane/sightings/sightingform.cfm

The link above provides a public reporting form on a site maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). When a report is submitted, the information goes simultaneously to multiple partners including the biologists who are tracking the birds, FWS, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, International Crane Foundation, and Operation Migration.

This update is a product of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. To access our previous project updates and additional information on the project visit our web site at http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/.

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Last updated: May 3, 2010