Birding Today: Cranes pay visit to Oklahoma

For those of you that have had the good pleasure of working with Whooping Cranes by doing food surveys at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, where the Whooping Cranes tend to spend their winters, they usually stop at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma before they finish their 2,500-mile journey.

They enjoy wetlands and open grain fields for a few days and are a segment of the only remaining naturally occurring flock, called the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population in Alberta, Canada. They usually visit twice a year, though we have learned never to say always. They can also readily be seen in Kansas at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge or sometimes Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife area, as well as crop fields and marshes.

This year, when they visited Oklahoma a little later than normal, their first visit this fall was not until Nov. 17. They had been known to visit as early as mid-October.

The spring birds have no time to waste in the spring, taking as little as 10 days to make it to their breeding grounds to breed, which has a much shorter breeding season than we have in Oklahoma for breeding birds. They spend as much as 50 days in the fall to make their winter journey, as autumn is a time of relaxed flights for most birds because there is no time crunch for breeding purposes.

These birds usually migrate in the smaller family units, though will generally join a large flock to complete the final leg of their respective seasonal trips.

The whooper has been listed as an endangered species since 1967, as it lost so much habitat due to hunting and the poaching of their eggs. The population was reduced to 15 birds, literally the brink. Though their populations have grown since they have been protected, it has been a slow fight. Powerlines were a grave hazard to their existence, and their habitat has been shrinking.

During late November 2021, four Whooping Cranes had been shot and killed near the Tom Steed Reservoir in Kiowa County, Oklahoma. Investigating authorities determined that the shootings were intentional, even though it occurred during hunting season. A law-abiding licensed hunter would never have mistaken these endangered birds for a Sandhill Crane.

A hunter found the still living original bird on Dec. 6, even though the incident occurred on or around Nov. 5. The wardens tried to save the crane, but it passed while being transported for care. An area search came up with three more dead birds and it was rapidly determined that the deaths were a result of shotgun wounds.

There are 17 states that permit the hunting of Sandhill Cranes, including Oklahoma, which is why investigators know that the Whooping Cranes of Kiowa County were illegally poached.

Deb Hirt is a wild bird rehabilitator and professional photographer living in Stillwater.