FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] out of state: whooping crane update

[Charlie <cmmbirds@xxxxxxxxx>]

All,

This is all out of state stuff, but considering the heavy involvement
TOS has had in helping the experimental eastern migratory flock of
Whooping Cranes, I thought it might be appropriate here.

It's great news!

This is from BirdChat.  So if you've already seen it, my appologies
and please hit <delete> now.

Charlie

Date:    Fri, 30 Jun 2006 10:40:14 -0500
From:    Patty Waits Beasley <patty@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Texas Whooping Cranes - 29 June 2006 update

Greetings all!

The following report is forwarded with permission from Tom Stehn,
USFWS 
biologist and US Whooping Crane Coordinator.

------------- begin report --------------

WHOOPING CRANE UPDATE   /    JUNE 29, 2006

It has been a RECORD production year for all three whooping crane
populations in the wild!  In addition, the captive flocks have
produced
nearly 30 chicks that will be reintroduced back into the eastern
migratory
population and approximately 6 chicks with especially valuable
genetics
that will be kept in captivity for breeding.

Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada

Production surveys on the nesting grounds carried out June 13-17 in a
Partanavia twin-engine aircraft piloted by Jim Bredy, USFWS-Region II
documented a record hatch of 76 chicks from the record 62 nests found
by
Brian Johns and Lea Craig-Moore of the Canadian Wildlife Service in
May.
Previous highs were 66 chicks hatched and 61 nests found a few years
ago.
Fifty-two of the 62 nests (84%) produced one or more chicks.  The 76 
chicks
included 24 sets of twins.  The record chick production in 2006
resulted
from both high productivity and a large number of nests.  An
estimated 9
known adult pairs including two single adults failed to nest but were
present on their territories, comparable to the 7 pairs that failed
to 
nest
in 2005.  Thus, there are an estimated 71 breeding pairs in the
Aransas-Wood Buffalo population.

Water conditions on the nesting grounds looked slightly above average
and
the weather was good throughout most of June, so I am optimistic that
survival of the chicks will be above average.  Based on the excellent
production in June, approximately 230+ whooping cranes are expected
to
reach Aransas in the fall, surpassing the record high of 220 present
in 
the
2005-06 winter.  This increase of the population is anticipated since
it 
is
in the growth portion of the 10-year population cycle that has
occurred
during the middle of every decade.

I thank the Refuge and Endangered Species divisions of USFWS and the
Canadian Wildlife Service for funding the June production surveys and
acknowledge the tremendous skill of Pilot Jim Bredy and Canadian
Whooping
Crane Coordinator Brian Johns for his knowledge of the nesting pairs
in 
the
virtual maize of small ponds that characterize the nesting grounds in
Wood
Buffalo National Park.

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Three whooping cranes did not migrate and are still at Aransas.  The
three
includes the 2004 Lobstick chick that was injured in spring 2005 and
has
not migrated in 2005 or 2006.  All three cranes look fine, but I
always
worry that the failure to migrate is an indication of a health
problem.

Florida

It has been a record production year for the nonmigratory whooping
crane
flock in central Florida.  Five chicks are still surviving from a
total of
7 chicks hatched from 12 nests.  Recent rains have improved wetland 
habitat
that had been dealing with drought.

Wisconsin

On June 22nd, the first wild whooping crane chicks were hatched in
Wisconsin in over 100 years.  The parents were both 4-year-old
whooping
cranes hatched in captivity at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
and
led in migration in 2002 behind ultralight aircraft from central
Wisconsin
to Florida.  The hatching of the twin chicks validates that captive
whooping cranes isolation-raised and taught a migration have all the
behaviors needed to become successful parents.

 From a Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership news release:
       "This is a long awaited moment," said Signe Holtz, director of
the
       Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Bureau of
Endangered
       Resources, "the success of this effort sets a goal for
endangered
       species recovery efforts everywhere. The partnership of
public,
       private and government organizations that has made this
possible
       shows what can be done when we all pull together with a common
goal
       in sight. These chicks have a long and dangerous road ahead of

them,
       but with luck we'll see them wing south with their parents
this
       fall."


  Tom Stehn
  Whooping Crane Coordinator
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  Aransas NWR
  P.O. Box 100
  Austwell, TX 77950
  (361) 286-3559 Ext. 221
  fax (361) 286-3722
  E:mail: tom_stehn@xxxxxxx

*******************************************************************
Charlie Muise, Naturalist near
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

"To the dull mind all nature is leaden.  To the illuminated mind 
the whole world sparkles with light."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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