In June we basked in another glorious Evening with the Cranes – how delightful to stroll our site with friends and supporters, and feast in local flavors, regional wines, and prairies in peak bloom. As with our big Anniversary Gala last year in Milwaukee, we are learning how to throw a good party in honor of all of you who make our work possible.
Category: North America
Lessons from the Passenger Pigeon’s Extinction
On September 1st we will observe the 100 year anniversary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. Just a few decades after the Passenger Pigeon’s demise, another North American bird species, the Whooping Crane, declined to just 21 birds in the wild. Loss of habitat and hunting pressures nearly caused the same fate as the Passenger Pigeon’s.
DAR Whooping Cranes Are Headed to Louisiana
The four Direct Autumn Release (DAR) Whooping Crane chicks are headed to Louisiana! This year’s DAR chicks will be released in the non-migratory Whooping Crane population at the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area in southwest Louisiana instead of with the eastern migratory population (WCEP population) in central Wisconsin.
Appeals Court Reverses Decision for Whooping Cranes in Texas
The International Crane Foundation is disappointed that earlier this week the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that mandated fresh-water inflows to Whooping Crane habitat on the Texas coast. The three judge panel held that legal aspects of the Endangered Species Act were misapplied in the lower court decision, when it found that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was liable for the deaths of 23 Whooping Cranes in 2008-2009.
Egg Score Card 2014
ICF’s captive Whooping Cranes are laying eggs – breeding season is here! A tradition at ICF is to follow our “Egg Score Card,” which tracks the Whooping Crane eggs from our captive flock, as well as wild Whooping Crane nests in Wisconsin.
USFWS Announces 2013 Shooting of Whooping Crane in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is home to a long legacy of ethical hunters and bird enthusiasts that dates back to before Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac of the mid-1900s. In the spirit of Leopold’s land ethic, we need your help.
Whooping Crane Tracking Partnership
In early August, ICF veterinarian Dr. Barry Hartup participated in his third annual research trip to western Canada to band wild Whooping Crane chicks on their remote summering area at Wood Buffalo National Park.