Created by Grade Three of 2001 - 2002
Hillside Elementary School
Estevan, SK
| before 1870 | About 1,400 whooping cranes could be found in the wild |
| 1870 to 1924 | More than 250 whoopers were killed for feathers and meat |
| 1930s | U.S. officials begin counting whooping cranes |
| since 1938 | Conservation programs have resulted in a slow increase, including those in captivity |
| By 1942 |
Flock dwindled to just 15 birds |
| since 1967 | Surplus eggs from Wood Buffalo have been hatched and reared in captivity |
| 1995 | Officials counted 149 whooping cranes |
| 2001 | Scientists teach 10 young whooping cranes to follow a small airplane.The birds chase the plane around and around in a protected place in Wisconsin. The scientists hope the whoopers will be strong enough by October to follow the plane to Florida |
Where do Whooping Cranes
Live?
Whooping Cranes have two homes.
In the winter they live in marshes and ponds near the Gulf of
Mexico in a refuge in Texas called Aransas Wildlife Refuge. In
the summer they live in Wood Buffalo National Park in northern
Canada. In Alberta their home has forest lands of the northern
wilderness with ponds and bogs. Nearby live beavers, bison, wolves,
and fish.
The whooping crane's migration
trip is 4,000 km. The whooping cranes fly from Aransas National
Wildlife Refuge in Texas to Wood Buffalo National Park in northern
Alberta. In their Texas home they eat snakes, acorns, small fish,
wild fruit, and shellfish. When migrating, they will eat roots
of plants and waste grain in stubble fields. Some of the dangers
whooping cranes face when migrating are power lines and polluted
water. The whooping cranes migrate for two weeks. They leave in
late autumn to their winter home in Texas so they can get food
and in the spring they return to Wood Buffalo National Park to
nest and raise their young.
What do Whooping Cranes Look Like?
The adult male stands 1.5 metres
tall. It weighs 10 kilograms. The adult whooping crane is white
with black tipped flight feathers. It has a dark bill. It has
yellow eyes. The crown is bare and red. The long pointed beak
is shaded from dark brown at its tip to a bright orange yellow
near the base. Special body parts are its long wings used to fly,
protect itself and help it do it's dances. The whooping crane
has a gizzard and a crop which help it digest its food.
Whooping cranes eat a
variety of foods. In Alberta they eat crabs, worms, and shrimp.
Whooping cranes eat snails, leeches, larval insects, frogs, small
rodents, minnows, and berries. In Texas their favorite food is
small marine life. Their long legs let them stand in the water
when they eat without getting their feathers wet. When they search
for food in the water their long bill keeps their face from getting
muddy. They also migrate to find food.
How Do Whooping Cranes Protect Themselves?
The whooping cranes protect
themselves in many ways. First, they peck at their enemies. They
charge at their enemies. They snap with their beaks. They will
stay with their mate for protection. They have a warning call.
They fly away from their enemies. Whooping cranes have lots of
predators such as owls, foxes, moose, bears, coyotes, wild pigs,
and poachers. They migrate to find food and good weather.
How do Whooping Cranes Communicate?
Whooping cranes were
named after the trumpet like sound they make. The whooping crane
communicates in different ways. First,they make a sound like this
: ker-looo,ker-lee-oooo! Second, they squawk when they are in
danger. Finally, they dance. First they bow at the beginning of
the dance. Next, they jump in the air with their wings spread
out. Then the male jumps over the female. During courting the
cranes may dance two times a day. They stay with the same mate
year after year.
The whooping crane
nest is made out of brown sedge and cattail stalks. The nests
are brown. They are one metre wide. Whooping cranes make a new
nest every year but close to the one they made the year before.
The mother finds a place that is already covered in lots of sedge
and cattail stalks. Then she and her mate arrange more sedge and
cattail stalks with their bills and tramp down on the nest with
their feet. The nest is about 30 centimetres above the water's
level. The whooping cranes nest in northern Alberta.
Eggs are incubated for 30 days. The color of the eggs is soft blue to a grey-green or tan with brown spots. The color of the eggs keep them camouflaged. The whooping cranes lay two eggs but usually only one chick survives. In captivity some females have been known to lay more than two eggs. The eggs are 102 mm long and weigh 208 grams.
The whooping crane usually
lays two eggs. One of the eggs is always laid before the other
one. The eggs are laid in the late spring and hatch 30 days after
they are laid. When the chicks hatch they have blue eyes that
change color as they get older. At about 3 months, their eyes
will be aquamarine in color. At about 6 months, their eyes will
be bright gold. The chicks face dangers like hawks and eagles.
The chicks feed on shrimp, frogs, fish, blue crabs, minnows, tadpoles,
and insects. The adult whooping crane softens the chick's food
by eating and spitting it into the chick's mouth. When the chicks
are 40 days old, the chicks grow feathers that are cinnamon and
white in colour with black wing tips. After a year of age, the
young bird will be white with black wing tips and black facial
markings.
Why Are Whooping Cranes Endangered?
There are now about 400
whooping cranes left in the world. The whooping crane has become
endangered for several reasons. First, people used to hunt the
whooping crane for their feathers. Second, when migrating they
sometimes fly into power lines and get electrocuted. Third, oil
spills wash up near shore and kill the food they like to eat.
Fourth, the birds cannot always protect their chicks from predators
or storms. Fifth, their habitat has been destroyed by draining
land to make more farms or room for houses. Sixth, the whooping
cranes reproduce slowly, raising only one chick a year. Often
the chick does not live to be even one year old. Finally, hunters
sometimes accidentally shoot them.
What's Being Done to Help Whooping Cranes?
Some things are now being
done to help the Whooping Cranes. Whooping cranes are protected
in Canada and the United States under the Migratory Birds Convention.
They are also protected between the United States and Mexico.
In addition important whooping crane habitats are protected. The
breeding area of the wild flock is in Wood Buffalo National Park
of Canada. Part of the land cranes use for wintering in the United
States has been protected as a wildlife refuge under United States
law since 1937. Recently more land in the United States has been
protected as whooping crane habitat. Some of this land is used
by an experimental wild flock of whooping cranes in the Rocky
Mountains. The other land is a refuge where most of the natural
flock winters and four other parts are areas in Nebraska, Kansas
and Oklahoma to protect the migration "corridor." Meanwhile,
a new flock is being taught to migrate with ultra light planes
along a new migration corridor. If this works, then all the whooping
cranes would not be wiped out if something happened along the
main migration corridor. Cranes are also being kept in captivity
and the extra chicks are cared for by humans using such techniques
as puppets.
The grade three class would like to express a special thank you to Mr. Dale Wetsch who shared with us his collection of whooping crane photos, underfeathers, and newpaper clippings.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Author: Lavendel, Brian
Title: On a Wing and A Prayer
Publisher: Animals
Year: Winter, 2001
2. Author: McClung, Robert
Title: Whooping Crane
City: New York
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Year: 1959
3. Author: not given
Title: The Magnificent Whooping Crane
Web site: http://raysweb.net/specialplaces/pages/crane.html
4. Author: not given
Title: Wildlife Biologist Identifies Whoopers
City: Estevan
Publisher: The Estevan Mercury
Year: 2001
5. Author: Stephen, W.
Title: Whooping Crane (Grus americana)
Publisher: Committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada
Year: 1979
6. Author: Upadhyay, Ritu
Title: Fly Away Home
Publisher: Time for Kids
Year: Oct. 26, 2001
7. Author: Weinrauch, J.
Title: Whooping Cranes Stop in Estevan Area
City: Estevan
Publisher: The Estevan Mercury
Year: Nov., 2001
8. Author: Willberg, D.
Title: Whooping Cranes Spotted South of City
City: Estevan
Publisher: Lifestyles
Year: Nov., 2001