Whooping Crane Conservation Association

Marty Folk, Avian Research, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has provided WCCA with Update #6 for the Florida Non-migratory whooping crane flock. The Florida flock has experienced some serious difficulties during the past two years. Drought conditions in the whoopers Florida range have made the situation much worse. Yet, the Florida Avain Research team continues to monitor the whoopers.

Marty Folk advised, “Perhaps you have been waiting by your computer for my next report…sorry to take so long. I’ve been waiting to announce that our whooping crane chick fledged. The chick is 111 days old today. It is likely the chick fledged long ago, but I haven’t reported it yet, because we have not verified this. There are at least several reasons…this is a relatively immobile pair that doesn’t go anywhere. Apparently their territory supplies everything they need; there is no hurry to fly. Secondly, about the time the chick would have been fledging, the male shed his flight feathers (It takes 44± days to regrow them). Because crane families like to “stick together”, this means the family is grounded for a while. We expect the male to be flight-capable again in a couple weeks.”

Marty adds, “As expected, we saw no further nesting after my last report below. We ended the season with 4 nests and 1 chick.”

Marty Folk, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that, “The two active whooping crane nests described in my 5th Update have failed. One nest failed on Saturday and one Sunday. Visits to the abandoned nests revealed no eggs or remains. Water levels had declined such that it would have been possible for mammalian predators to approach the nests without getting their feet wet. Normally the birds abandon at this point so the nest failures were predictable. The Polk County nest was in a large lake that was not immune to the drying effects of this drought. We still could see a nesting (our latest laying date is 27 May) but not likely from the 2 pairs that just failed. The chick in Osceola County is now 60 days old.”

Marty explained that, “The South Florida Water Management District recently reported that the
period from November 2008 through April 2009 ranked as the driest
six-month period in South Florida history based on records dating back
to 1932. The trouble is, we began this drought back in 2006 and had
already accumulated a large deficit prior to November last year.
However, this week a stalled front is bringing rain to Florida! We’ve
had 3.2 inches of rain at my house this week (it seems like the Great
Flood), and some areas have gotten more. It is “too little too late” for
this breeding season, but is a start for rehydrating the thirsty
landscape.”

Great news!
Marty Folk,Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued his second update report for the day (5-5 09). Marty notified us that, “The minute I sent out my update #3 on Florida’s non-migratory flock of whooping cranes (see below) we discovered another nesting (actually a re-nest). The pair who had the 2nd nest (in Lake County, see report below), have re-nested and currently have 1 egg, just laid since yesterday’s check of the pair. We moved our video surveillance equipment and began recording their behavior.”

WCCA is thrilled to send you Marty Folk’s” report. Hopefully, this nest will be another success. We will keep you posted.

Marty Folk, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist reports that: “Earlier I reported on a whooping crane chick in ‘nest #1’.The chick from nest #1 still survives and is 46 days of age today (May 5, 2009). The eggs that we collected from ‘nest #2′ showed no sign of embryos. The pair at nest #2 produced fertile eggs during their previous 3 nest attempts and we suspect that winter rainfall was insufficient to stimulate copulation or some aspect of egg or sperm production. We now have a new nest by a pair in Polk County. They are nesting in a lake because all marshes in the area are dry.”

Marty advised,”We continue intensive daily monitoring in order to document survival and movements of the whooping cranes. Also, as you may know, we have identified that male whooping cranes aren’t living as long as females, and that male whooping cranes are more vulnerable to collisions with power lines than females. We suspect this may be associated with the males’ propensity to lead the flocks and be the defenders of the flocks. We are also collecting behavioral data to help us learn more about this. We also continue to gather data on whooping crane feather molt. Every other year, on average, adult whoopers molt all their flight feathers and are grounded for an average of 44 days while the new feathers grow.”

Marty stated that in the area of Florida’s non-migratory whooping crane habitat there is no sign of relief here from the drought. The long days with high temperatures at 90 degrees really bake the landscape.