Fla. storms killed all 18 whooping cranes led south by ultralight

Jacksonville.com ^ | 2-3-07 | JAMES A. CARLSON

[SJackson]

The scientific community has been mollycoddling this species since I was a child(and I am 65)

True, and before you were a child, we were eating them.

[SJackson]

The movie was late 90s, the International Crane foundation has been around since the early 70s.

[SJackson]

Some positive news for the thread.

Crane Courting at ICF! 02/02/2007

http://www.savingcranes.org/about/whats_new/whatsnew_article.cfm?id=193

As Valentine’s Day draws near, we asked Nat Warning, ICF Aviculturist, to give us an update on his work as a crane “matchmaker.” Nat is currently watching one of ICF’s newest couples – a female Wattled Crane named “Bella” and a male named ‘Tutu.”

Nat explains, "Female cranes tend to be selective in their choice of a mate. Unless they meet a compatible male, female cranes will not lay eggs." This makes sense because crane pairs work as a team – sharing all the duties of defending the territory, nest building, incubating, and chick rearing.

“Bella” is thirty-four years old and comes from the Baltimore Zoo. She has previous relationship experience but has never had any chicks. “Tutu” is 26 years old. He was hatched in the wild in Africa and then transferred to Busch Gardens in Florida to be part of the international effort to establish a captive breeding program to ensure the survival of the species. “Tutu” has been in a number of successful relationships and has fathered three offspring.

Throughout the winter, Bella and Tutu have been housed side-by-side in a special “dating” pen. They are sharing the same food bucket and contact calling together (all positive signs for a new crane couple). We are hopeful their pair bond will continue to strengthen in the coming weeks and that eggs and chicks will be in their future. It is important they breed because Wattled Cranes are endangered and we want “Bella” to have offspring and be represented in the captive flock. As Valentine’s Day approaches, all of us at ICF look forward to the first signs of spring and the calls of courting cranes!

[MeekOneGOP]

bump! bump! bump!

[NonValueAdded]

If you did, would it be Frasier or Niles?

[Western Phil]

I think they were down to 11 in the wild in the 40s. When they found where they were nesting (somewhere around Great Slave Lake, they discovered that if they stole one of their eggs, the cranes would lay another and raise their family and the scientists raised one.

In the 80s or so, they let some sandhill cranes in Oregon raise some whooping cranes. It was hoped that this would start a new flock. The whooping cranes, however, could never determine their identity and never mated. I saw a couple of them with a whole lot of sandhill cranes at the Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico. You could drive right up to them in your car, but if the cranes saw someone on foot, it was difficult to get within 1/4 mile of them.

[FReepapalooza]

I believe they would have survived if not enclosed, also. Very sad. I wonder why they were enclosed?

[Western Phil]

The first group of the Wisconsin cranes was taken to Fl. in 2001. 9/11 caused difficulties in their getting flight authorizations.

[Western Phil]

The Florida wildcats eat the yearlings if they roam free. A normal situation would have the parents teach the youngsters where to roost and whatever else they need to know to survive.

[OldFriend]

Yes, the birds were caged and unable to escape.

Good intentions, scant intelligence on the part of the meddlers.

[moonman]

Sandhill cranes run and fly all over Florida. You have to stop your car and let them walk across the street. They are the noisiest bird here.

[FReepapalooza]

Thanks for the info. It just seemed rather odd to enclose the birds.

[SwatTeam]

I also think they would have had a chance to survive if they hadn't been enclosed. Who knows? Animals instinctively sense changes in the weather and other things. Anyone who has pets and pays close attention to them sees how they react to different stimuli. They supposedly know in advance of earthquakes,tsunamis, thunderstorms. Probably the change in the atmospheric pressure has something to do with that. I'm not smart enough to know all that.
My husband and I were talking about this today after we saw it on tv and he said that a species that systematically abort their young and also refuse to fight for their very own survival are also doomed to extinction. I've always said that the dems were an entirely different species from the rest of us and what he said really got my brain to working overtime.LOL

[san juan]

For the past six years, whooping cranes hatched in captivity have been raised at the Necedah refuge by workers who wear crane-like costumes to keep the birds wary of humans.

To see humans walking around dressed up like birds is enough to make any animal wary of humans.

As I understand the purpose of the experiment, it began in the early forties. The idea was to divide the then existing and deminishing whooper population into two flocks, an eastern flock, which would winter in Florida, and a 2-part western flock, which would winter at South Padre Island, Texas and the Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. So if disease or natural calamity wiped out one population, there would still be another flock to restock the population. In all three places, plus a migratory stop-over spot at Alamosa, Colorado, marshes was created, surrounded by carefully cultived fields of gain to provide the whoopers with everything they could want to be happy and flourish through the winters. In late winter, they would return to their northern breeding grounds to breed. To establish in the birds the migratory instinct that would bring them to those artificially created wintering places year after year, wildlife scientists used various methods, which included placing fertile whooper eggs in the nests of Sandhill cranes, which already had those winter places bred in them. The young whoopers would follow the Sandhills on their migratory route and the instinct would be instilled in them. If the whoopers migrated there just once, chances were good that they would return each year. One aspect of that experiment was to use an ultralight, which the birds had been trained to follow, as a lead bird on their initial, hopefully imprinting, journey. It was tricky and not at all precise but for about four decades, it kind of worked. Then, about twenty years ago, it started falling apart. At Bosque del apache, after growing to a maximum population of about 31 whoopers, the population decreased yearly until the population got too small to breed and the experiment was abandoned. There are still a few whoopers South Padre Island. I don't know the current status of the Florida flock. Anyway, that's how I understand it. Birds are freaky and once a population slides past a certain point, it's really hard to restore it. It's hard not to preach about these things but obviously everytime we lose one of these critters, our lives are poorer.

[SierraWasp]

Ancient Hebrew Proverb:"Man plans and God laughs!"

Speaking of "laughs," what do you think of my new tagline?

Seriously, I watched the PBS show of this exercise in futility... It was sweet and cute and so utterly vain of these godless little tin gods to dress up in "flight suits" that made them look sorta like "muthas," conplete with little hand tools that looked sorta like a neck-head-beak to fool these birds into learning how to annually migrate like they are supposed to.

I admit that at first my heart went out to these birds that they assigned names to, but then... MY BRAIN KICKED IN!!! It was pledge week!!! They were tryin ta tug at my danged wallet!!! (sorry... I'd rather contribute ta FR!)

[calcowgirl]

Watch for it in 4!!!

I sure hope you don't mean there is a whole 'nother wave of this manure?
We need some good news!

[SierraWasp]

Well, we know one thing for sure in this state now... The Demonic-Rat-Icks (the get upset when you leave off the "icks") aren't the only Party that owns a manure spreader!!!

The only good news I can expect is an iron clad conservative to come rampagin onto the statewide scene in time for 2010! (we need a 2010 plan of attack)

Maybe we could git Jerry Brown to put on one of them there crane suits and teach him to drive that there ultra-lie(oops, clumsey me... I left out the "t") to git the Demonic-Rat-Ick Party to follow him over a cliff by flappin their wings, or better yet, lips!!! (I'm just tryin ta stay on the danged subject here!)(don't knock it!)

[jwparkerjr]

re: Florida lost almost a 1/3 of all trees

If this statement means Florida lost a third of all its trees to hurricanes I find that hard to comprehend. I live in Florida and outside the areas actually hit by the storms there are still as many trees as ever.

Maybe I misunderstood the statement?

[calcowgirl]

Maybe we could get the men in their little white coats to take him away... to the funny farm where everything is beautiful all the time where he'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats... to the happy home with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their toes...

[SierraWasp]

They're coming to take him away, ho ho hee hee!!! (boy I wish!!!)(And Schwartzenegger too!!!)