Whooping Cranes:
This Spring the Unimaginable Happened

Cranes! From its creation, Paynes Prairie Preserve and the Sandhill Cranes have been inseparable. Who hasn't heard the Cranes soaring high over Gainesville calling with that loud clear voice demanding that we stop what ever we're doing and look for them. Who hasn't stood in some parking lot with our eyes to the sky searching for them as they circled leisurely over our heads. The Cranes are our gift for protecting the open places. The Cranes are our reward for doing the right things to preserve the Prairie.

During the winter of 2008-2009 we must have been particularly good for we not only had 5,000 Sandhill Cranes we had at least 14 Whooping Cranes! The Whooping Crane, that great white crane over a foot taller than the Sandhills, with a 7 foot wingspan, and critically endangered both nationally and globally. The Whoopers had been here before but never in such numbers, and never so close that even those of us with little point and shoot cameras could get good photos of them.

The Whooping Cranes have been with us ever since. Most migrate to the north come spring, but a few stay on for the summer. There are about 23 of these summer birds in Florida and we're lucky that a few of the have found Paynes Prairie and decided to stay.

To me it's interesting that the Whooping Cranes weren't released here at the prairie, they weren't brought here by humans, they just showed up on their own. They are an endangered species, and one which has been the focus of heroic conservation efforts: rearing in captivity, reintroducing to the wild, training to migrate with ultralight aircraft, etc.. But they came to the prairie because they were just Cranes being Cranes; and while it's true that they're festooned with all of the latest electronic devices in the end they're just Cranes taking care of Crane business.

Then this spring the unimaginable happened! Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission researchers flying over the Prairie to keep an eye on the Whooping Cranes found a pair on a nest! Shortly after that in early May they saw the same Cranes with two chicks. By the end of May there was only one chick, but cranes typically lay two eggs but only successfully raise one chick. The last reported chick sighting was in early June by the Prairie's own Park Ranger Howard Adams. Since then the adults have been seen but not a chick. An overflight on July 8 found the pair of adults, but no chick...

We remain hopeful that the Whoopers will be successful in fledging their chick but it is looking less likely. Only about a third of chicks that hatch survive to fledging age, and predation is suspected as the major cause of death. Based on when the nest was found we'd expect that the chick, if it still survives, will be able to fly some time after the middle of July. With the family able to fly about our chances of seeing them gets much better. Until then we all need to keep our fingers crossed.

Jim Weimer, Paynes Prairie Preserve Biologist