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Whooping Crane ( Grus americana )

Whooping Crane ( Grus americana ). By: Aaron Sluss. Morphological Characteristics. Tall bird- nearly 5 feet Adults white with red patch on crown Long white neck Dark legs, dark pointed bill, and black facial markings. In flight, black wingtips are visible

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Whooping Crane ( Grus americana )

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  1. Whooping Crane(Grus americana) By: Aaron Sluss

  2. Morphological Characteristics • Tall bird- nearly 5 feet • Adults white with red patch on crown • Long white neck • Dark legs, dark pointed bill, and black facial markings. • In flight, black wingtips are visible • Inner wing feathers droop over the rump, called a" bustle” which distinguishes cranes from herons • Sexes alike

  3. Other Characteristics • Adults weigh between 12 and 15 pounds • Wing span of nearly 8 feet • Life Span of 22-24 yrs (wild) • Gets its name from its loud bugle-like trumpeting call ker-loo ker-lee-loo • http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/CraneNotes1.html#8 • Heard from 2 miles • Long trachea which coils twice Inside the breast bone

  4. Habitat • Whoopers use a variety of habitats for different times in the year. • Breeding: mixed forest and wetlands • Migration: croplands, marshes, and submerged sandbars. • Winter: bays and coastal marshes

  5. Feeding Characteristics • Wetlands: feed on clams, insects, fish, frogs, crabs, and crayfish • Uplands: feed on insects, snails, small rodents, and acorns

  6. Breeding • Start pairing on wintering grounds • http://whoopers.usgs.gov/videos2.htm • Monogamous • Don’t start breeding until 4 or 5 years • breed in the large marshes adjacent to the Sass, Klewi, Nyarling and Little Buffalo Rivers • each pair establishes a territory of 1.5 square miles.

  7. Nesting • Did not know where they nested for years. • Usually nest once, but will nest again if nest is destroyed. May even skip a year. • Nests can be floating or built up from the bottom of the pond. • Nests are usually built of bullrush, sedge or cattail. • Clutch size: 2-with one surviving • Incubation: 1 month. Duties shared by parents

  8. Recruitment • Varies greatly from year to year • Low as 12% to highs around 78% • Average of about 45 per cent

  9. Factors that affect recruitment • the number of pairs actually nesting • the number of viable eggs produced • weather conditions at time of hatching and during the ensuing weeks • habitat conditions (water levels) • abundance of food • Predators (bobcats) (eagles)

  10. Juveniles • Cinnamon and white colored • young remain with their parents for the summer • Parents feed them larval, or inactive, forms of insects such as dragonflies, damselflies, and also snails, clams, leeches, and small fish. • able to fly at about 90 days of age

  11. Migration • Usually in groups of less than 10. • Make a 2600 mile trip from Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. • Starts trip in late September and arrives in mid to late October to mid November • Special flying method: uses an energy-efficient combination of spiraling and gliding that allows it to fly nonstop for incredible distances (up to 450 miles).

  12. What Happened to the Whooper? • Not that many to begin with. • Are susceptible to many factors during migration. (Diseases, weather, and drought) • Delayed breeding maturity • Two main factors that caused rapid decline: • man-made changes of habitat (esp. wetland losses) • hunting, and feather and egg collecting.

  13. Recovery of the Whooper • Migratory Bird treaty Act of 1918 • Wood Buffalo National Park est. in 1922 • In 1937, the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge established. • Listed as a Threatened and Endangered species in 1973.

  14. Recovery Cont.. • Captive Breeding • Difficult to do because of their sensitivity to humans. (Imprinting) • http://whoopers.usgs.gov/videos2.htm • Remove the “extra egg”. • Artificial insemination • Foster parents

  15. Flocks of the Past VS Today's • Estimated that in 1870 there were around 500-1400 birds • Went to a low of 15-20 in 1941 • As of 2000 282 in wild and 106 in captivity • More pandas than whoopers

  16. What must be done to continue the success • Establishment of another migratory flock • Support of the Canadian public for the management of whooper nests and eggs • Publicity and hunter education • Preservation of wetlands along the cranes’ migration route

  17. Any Questions??

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