About WCEP | Hatching & Rearing Cranes | About the Ultralight-led Migration | Direct Autumn Release |

Tracking Wild Whooping Cranes | WI Whooping Cranes |

Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership
2002 Annual Report

2002 Overview -

Go here for the complete 45 page report (PDF)

Our Partnership continued full-time recovery efforts with two annual planning meetings: one in pre-spring and one in fall, prior to migration. Given our large, diverse collaboration, these face-to-face meetings strengthened relationships, allowed collective brainstorming to occur and provided a forum to resolve issues. We began the 2002 season with three cohorts of whooping crane chicks hatched at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, collectively totaling 18 birds. A notable first this year included 3 chicks from International Crane Foundation breeding stock. One crane was held back at Patuxent for future use as an imprint model, due to a wing injury (temporary droop) sustained during a health exam.

Private aircraft transported the remaining 17 pre-fledge whooping cranes to Wisconsin in June, where they were raised in prime wetland training areas at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, including use of a “4-star” pen facility, newly developed by refuge staff. Another improvement was the increased number of nights the cranes spent water roosting at Necedah. (We believe this is a significant change from the 2001 season cranes) Ultimately, 16 whooping cranes successfully migrated behind ultralights to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge where they wintered in a 4-acre, open-topped pen in a salt marsh on the Gulf Coast. Many thanks go out to USFWS Region 4 staff for tripling the size of last year’s pen and orchestrating a 90-ton oyster shell drop to create a roosting area that better accommodates extreme tidal fluctuations. The 16 youngsters also had the company of opportunistic 2001 bird # 5, who in addition to being dominant, took full advantage of corn & crane chow being offered.

The five 2001 whooping cranes overall demonstrated great success behaviorally and in habitat use. It is evident we have a lot to learn from reintroduced cohorts each year and anticipate differences. All five migrated successfully without prompting, assistance or predation in both spring and fall. We couldn’t have asked for any better timing, as migration occurred exactly during the Aransas – Wood Buffalo whooping crane migration northward and within typical migration season southbound. During fall migration some of the 2001 cranes even crossed paths with the ultralight-led 2002 migration. Four of five ’01 whoopers returned temporarily to the Florida release area prior to selecting their primary wintering areas. All five whoopers wintered in Florida, utilizing wetlands found in inland freshwater and coastal saltwater locations. Two birds never parted company and to date, have remained together as a behavioral pair.

One noteworthy, unexpected thing happened in early January 2003: male # 6 from 2001, our “ambassador” bird thus far wintering in Tennessee, flew to northern Florida, where he joined 2001 bird # 7. Number 7 (an independent female) hadn’t seen a whooper since splitting off from her cohort during spring migration in April 2002! It remains to be seen whether these two birds will continue to associate with each other.

Challenges we met along the way: (the list is shorter than last year!)

• Some of the 2001 birds exhibit a high level of tolerance of human activity, whether at Necedah or other wetland areas in WI. Some also continue to accept or challenge the presence of any costumed handlers.

• 2001 birds # 1, 2 & 5 returned to the training grounds to challenge the chicks, handlers and aircraft. The situation was mitigated over time using various tactics including swamp monster impressions. Bird # 5 soon gave up, but # 1 & 2 continued the challenges throughout the summer, and behaved rather like a pair claiming territory. WCEP may benefit from this territoriality next summer if the pair returns and can prevent 2002 whoopers from reclaiming the training site.

• Lost training time due to late-summer handling for banding and health check.

• Parasites, Salmonella, West Nile Virus & Infectious Bursal Disease exposure.

• Loss of 1 bird during high winds of the first migration day.

• Diverse perspectives. Areas of improvement we’ve identified:

• Changes to handling & banding procedures in order to decrease or eliminate lost training time.

• Improved water flow in pens at Necedah.

• Increased information/data collection and sharing in all project areas.

• Quarterly reports for the Bird Team.

Additional highlights:

• Huge public support continues, not only in North America, but worldwide - especially during the fall migration.

• Over 4.5 million website visitors on the OM, WCEP, ICF and Journey North websites. Peak during migration, but good throughout the year.

• Private landowner generosity allows our gypsy caravan of pilots, ground crew, outreach staff and birds to take shelter.

• President Carter and wife Rosalynn, for a second year, visited the team during migration to provide congratulations and encouragement.

• A Partnership video, “Bringing Back the Cranes,” (produced by Sunshine Productions, narrated by Graham Greene) was completed and made available for educational purposes. The production features the history of the Whooping crane and recovery efforts. Each founding partner received a master video with a 3-minute ending tailored to its organization.

 

Regulatory outlook: we reviewed all necessary permits and found them to be in order. Discussion and correspondence with program directors in the migratory pathway indicates regional enthusiasm and support.

Financially, we had an anticipated budget of $1.6 million with no shortfalls reported by any partner. Donations to our Partnership fund (set up for us by NFWF) came from a substantial private donation, from a tremendously successful Tennessee walk-a-thon, and from the popular Necedah cranefest. We are currently restructuring this team’s membership and operations, to face the never-ending challenges of another year’s budget.

Prospectus: Our goal of establishing 25 breeding pairs and 125 birds by 2020 remains within sight. We presently have 21 whooping cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population, with 18-20 additional chicks projected for 2003. Plans are underway to initiate a supplemental release technique to augment the ultralight-led recovery efforts.

Go here for the complete 45 page report (PDF)