Initiative: Monitoring
April 24, 2024 (Wilmette, Illinois) – A young Whooping Crane, 16-23 a.k.a. Animal, was reported by local birders in a residential neighborhood of Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago, Tuesday morning.
Initiative: Monitoring
In May 2019, researchers at the International Crane Foundation documented a pair of female Whooping Cranes nesting and incubating eggs at McMillan Marsh Wildlife Area in Marathon County, Wisconsin. This observation, while exciting, was not necessarily unique as many birds, including chinstrap penguins, greater flamingoes, zebra finches, bearded vultures, and even Black-necked Cranes, have been known to exhibit same-sex pairing behaviors.
Initiative: Monitoring
Illegal shootings are a significant threat to the survival of Endangered Whooping Cranes.
Initiative: Monitoring
“This is the story of the last of the western population of Siberian Cranes, a group discovered by Dr. Ali Ashtiani in 1978. They numbered 12-14 cranes and inhabited a wetland complex where local people trapped wild ducks and geese.
Initiative: Monitoring
A dead Grey Crowned Crane lies below a transmission line in southwest Uganda.
A sudden movement causes a Grey Crowned Crane pair to flush, leaping upwards until one of the cranes unknowingly collides with a powerline near their roost site. The bird later is found below the line with a wing injury or is killed immediately from the impact or electrocution.
Initiative: Monitoring
On a recent visit to the flats: To get an idea of where the birds were, we visited a fishing camp. The fisherfolk said, there and there and there! The Ranger helped us get there. And there and there. And behold. Congregations of water birds of global significance. In the Kafue Flats. The vision of the Kafue Flats Restoration Partnership is “A Thriving Wetland For All.” — Mwape Sichilongo
The Kafue Flats in Zambia is the most important floodplain in Africa for Wattled Cranes. More than 3,000 of these majestic birds (a third of the total population) depend on the Kafue Flats for their breeding, feeding, and roosting needs. Local communities who share this floodplain with Wattled Cranes call them, Nakaala, meaning “the one who lays only one or two precious eggs.” They are the most wetland-dependent of Africa’s cranes and important indicators of the health and ecological functioning of this enormous floodplain.
Initiative: Monitoring
“The haunting calls of the world’s cranes are sadder today because they have lost a devoted friend, and the conservation community has lost a true hero.” ~ Kenneth Strom, National Audubon Society
On September 19, 2018, we lost a dear friend and champion for the conservation of cranes and wetlands, Jim Harris.
