The Whooping Crane

By Al Lowe
Contributor

The Whooping Crane is not a bird which you are likely to see in Northwestern Ontario, You are really not likely to see it anywhere, except in two special locations.
It is the tallest bird in America, standing between four and five feet tall. It is almost pure white, except for its black wing-ends. Part of its head is bare, and is quite red.
When it flies, it stretches its head straight our in front, and its feet straight out behind (different from herons).
The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is teetering on the edge of extinction. Even at the very best, the estimate of its original numbers is only about 2,000. Now the total number is around 150, but in the 1930's and 40's it was only about 15.
We now know where they nest - away up in northern Alberta, and the Mackenzie District. This was unknown for many years and was only discovered by accident in 1954.
They winter in Texas, at the Aransas Wildlife Refuge, nearly 2500 miles away. This means they traverse a lot of the continent twice a year. At one time they nested in suitable areas in Illinois and Minnesota, and through the west to the top of the prairies.
A nest is always built in a swamp - usually in at least a foot of water. Usually two eggs are laid, but, oddly enough only one chick is raised. If the second one doesn't die, apparently it is killed. I guess they can only handle one at a time.
These huge birds eat all kinds of swamp things - frogs, small fish, insects, and their larvae, clams, snail and so on. They are not above eating birds' eggs and nestlings and small mammals, if they can be found.
The Whooping Crane has come perilously close to extinction, and this has caused a combined salvage effort to come about between the U.S. and Canada. Some birds are raised in captivity, at another refuge in Maryland.
When the birds lay their eggs in the north (two per nest), Canadian biologists take one out of each nest. These are insulated, kept warm, and are flown by RCAF jet to Maryland, where they are placed under the common Sandhill Cranes to hatch. Quite a number have been hatched this way.
The aim is to establish another small flock which will eventually be self-sustaining. So far it is going well. There are about 40 or so in captivity.
Why is everyone, including governments, spending so much time, effort and money on these birds? You may ask what difference it would make if all of these cranes disappear. Would it change the ecology of the continent?
The answer is probably not even a tiny bit. However, this is a big, majestic looking bird. It has caught the fancy of the public. To many people, it represents the whole of the ecology movement, the conservation ethic. Many organizations have adopted this crane as their symbol.
There are many species on this continent which have disappeared, never to return. A great many people are determined that fate will not happen to the Whooping Crane.
This large tall, striking bird, the symbol of our dedication to conservation, is still just hanging on by a thread.