Wild Canadian Whooping Cranes Hatch 76 Chicks in 2006

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle Jul 23, 2006

The wild flock of Whooping Cranes that breeds in Wood Buffalo National Park (45,000 square kilometers of parkland on the border between Alberta and the Northwest Territories of Canada) migrate each spring from Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. At the end of 2005, this Western Whooping Crane flock included 220 wild birds.

The flock does not migrate together; the birds leave at different times, something that lowers the risk of serious loss in the event of severe weather or any other threat along the migration route. Birds start leaving Texas in early spring, and begin arriving in the nesting grounds by the end of April. In 2006, three young Whooping Cranes did not make the trip, remaining in Aransas all summer. It's not known why they did not migrate, but it may be due to poor health or injury.

In the north, the breeding success of the flock is closely watched by the Canadian Wildlife Service. It's gone well, so far, in 2006. Drought, forest fires, cold temperatures and predators can all kill Whooping Crane chicks throughout the spring and summer months, but it seems the summer of 2006 has been favorable for success - in May, there were 62 nests, producing 76 chicks, and if all continues to go well, a considerably larger flock will return to Aransas in the fall.

A small non-migratory flock of Whooping Cranes continues to breed in the wild in central Florida, a new wild flock may soon become established in Wisconsin, and captive breeding programs also add an annual contingent to the number of Whooping Cranes alive today. From less than two dozen birds in the early 1940's, the total has grown to 479 Whooping Cranes at the beginning of the 2006 breeding season - not enough to take them off the endangered list, but an amazing improvement for a bird so nearly lost.