Whooping Cranes back at Wheeler

Whooping Crane Chick

DECATUR – They’re back. Reports from Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge confirm that 4 Whooping Cranes are now at their wintering grounds inside the boundaries. The whoopers, among the rarest species of bird in the world, are enjoying their sojourn among 9-thousand of their first-cousins, Sandhill Cranes.

Refuge manager, Dwight Cooley told The Quad-Cities Daily that the first Whooping Crane of the season was spotted wildlife scientists November 16. The bird was confirmed to be one of the cranes that were released onto the refuge last year by members of Operation Migration. Of the other three birds, it is not clear at present whether they are from the same “Class of 2011”, or belong to another migratory group that has simply found its way to Wheeler.

Operation Migration is a U.S./Canadian organization that manages the Whooping Crane species in North America. They collect eggs from nesting birds at Florida refuges and then incubate them to ensure a better survival rate. Once the chicks are old enough to migrate, the pilots of Operation Migration guide them down to Florida in order to teach them the route. Operation Migration has already this year guided the “Class of 2012” safely to their wintering grounds.

We will keep updating this story as more information becomes available.

You may read more from our stories last year by clicking this LINK. You may also search our database by searching for “whooping”