My First Whooping Crane - Extremely Rare Birds

"Birds are indicators of the environment.  If they are in trouble, we know we'll soon be in trouble" 

Roger Tory Peterson

I was out on the road a few days ago when a co-worker saw a few large birds out in a field.  We stopped to get a closer look and I zoomed my camera as much as possible.  We knew Whooping Cranes had been spotted in the area  week earlier so after a quick google search we verified that was in fact what we had witnessed.  While the picture may leave something to desire in terms of quality, the subjects in the photos are a model of perseverance.  In fact, the birds in the photo make up just over 1/2 percent of the total population of wild Whooping Cranes remaining in the wild.  Yes that's right 3 out of the 437 birds remaining in the wild.  While the population is expected to have been greater than 10,000 prior to European Settlers, it dwindled down to only 15 birds as of 1938.  It is still one of the rarest birds in North America. 

(Photo from http://www.operationmigration.org/)

In 1993 Whooping Cranes were raised in captivity and with the help of volunteers and environmentalist were taught to migrate north to Wisconsin by following ultralights.  You can click the link below the photo for more information on their work.