Journey North Whooping Cranes

Not every whooping crane that separates from its parents survives. This year at Aransas, one juvenile separated from its parents just a few miles north of Aransas. In November, it stayed with sandhill cranes out in farm fields and flew every night to a part of Aransas where there were no other whooping cranes. After several weeks, I could no longer find the juvenile. I don’t know where it might be or if it survived.

On February 11, I noticed another whooping crane juvenile had separated from its parents at the south end of Aransas. I found it from my census airplane at a fresh water dugout on a large prescribed burn (we use fire as a tool to manage and improve habitat) the staff had done. After drinking, the young crane fed on the burned area. Again, I was very worried that the bird was sick. Two days later, refuge staff were sampling (taking a count of) fish in that same dugout. They noticed a large white wing lying on the edge of the water and identified it as a whooping crane. Nearby was an alligator with the rest of the juvenile whooping crane in its mouth. I bet the juvenile had been standing in the dugout when the alligator killed it. Its parents would have known just to drink from the dugout and not stand in the water — but the juvenile had never learned that. Probably it was sick and lethargic. As a result, it let its guard down and was killed.

It is so much better when whooping crane juveniles stay with their parents for one full year.