
| Wisconsin Whooping Cranes Hatch Two Chicks! |
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Biologists and supporters around the world are celebrating the hatching of two Whooping Crane chicks in the wild in central Wisconsin! The first chick hatched on June 12, 2009 to Whooping crane pair #12-02 and #19-04 at their nest site in Wood County, Wisconsin. This chick was from an egg that was produced by a captive Whooping Crane at the International Crane Foundation (ICF), in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Both of the pair’s own eggs were infertile, so their eggs were replaced with a fertile egg produced at ICF. This pair originally nested on their Wood County territory earlier this spring, but later abandoned their nest. They re-nested around May 21. These first time parents appear to be extremely attentive to their new chick. This is only the second time Whooping Cranes have hatched in the wild in this eastern population that summers in Wisconsin and migrates south to Florida in the winter. |
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| Planning a Visit to ICF? Read this First! |
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ICF has constructed four, new exhibits to house the magnificent cranes of Africa. |
| At Least Half of Homer's 10 Sandhill Cranes Make it Back Home |
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This article, written by Naomi Klouda, is reprinted with permission from "The Homer Tribune." It highlights the work of Gary Ivey, ICF Western Crane Conservation Manager. |
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| ICF's New Africa Exhibit Designed to Conserve Energy |
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When the new Spirit of |
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| "Three White Cranes, Two Flyways, One World" Art Exhibition |
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On June 20, 2009 the Three White Cranes, Two Flyways, One World art and education exhibit opened at the International Crane Foundation's headquarters in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The exhibit highlights the achievements of the Three White Cranes project, an international education project linking ICF’s programs in the United States and East Asia. The exhibit includes artwork created by students in the United States, China and Russia, along with information on project activities, education resources developed through the project, and a video focusing on the Xianghai Middle School Nature Art Club in northeast China. The exhibit will show at ICF through October 31, 2009. The ICF Conservation Education Department is preparing a traveling version of the exhibit to show at project schools and other public locations starting this fall. Please This E-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ICF's Outreach Coordinator, for more information and how you to involve your school or community. Click here to learn more about the Three White Cranes project.
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| New Ramsar Wetlands Recognized in Kazakhstan |
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On May 22, 2009, the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands announced the inclusion of two sites in northern Kazakhstan, the Koibagar-Tyuntyugur and Kulykol-Taldykol Lake Systems, into the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The new Ramsar sites are two of four lake systems in Kazakhstan included in the UNEP/GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project (SCWP), a six-year project coordinated by the International Crane Foundation to protect a network of wetlands along the Siberian Crane flyways in Eurasia. SCWP activities at the two sites have included training programs on education, public awareness raising, alternative livelihood activities and waterbird monitoring and identification. The new Ramsar designations highlight the importance of the lake systems in maintaining the biodiversity of migratory waterbirds along the Central Asian Flyway. In 2007, both sites also were included in the Western/Central Asian Site Network for Siberian Cranes and Other Waterbirds under the Convention on Migratory Species. Read more about the SCWP and ICF’s flyway conservation programs in Eurasia by clicking here.
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| Baldwin Bill to Protect Cranes Passes the House |
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Congresswoman Tammy Wisconsin’s Second District April 22, 2009 On the eve of Earth Day, the House yesterday passed the Crane Conservation Act of 2009, authored by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. The bipartisan, bicameral legislation will help protect and preserve the world’s most endangered family of birds. |
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| Saving Whooping Cranes |
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The International Crane (ICF) is a founding member of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, a public and private collaboration established in 2001 to reduce the likelihood of extinction for this endangered bird. Our main task is to breed and reintroduce a migratory, self-sustaining flock into the eastern United States. |
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| Avian Influenza Information |
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08/07/2007 Authored by: Barry Hartup, DVM, PhD – Director of Veterinary Services, International Crane Foundation The outbreak of influenza A virus (H5N1) throughout Eurasia has led to concerns of a human influenza pandemic, and there is increasing unease that wild birds, particularly waterfowl, may be responsible for the spread of the disease to new regions... |
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| NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT |
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The experimental Whooping Crane flock nears the completion of its fall migration as the Ultralight Class of 2008 reaches Florida wintering sites at the St. Marks and Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuges. The adult and 2008 Direct Autumn Release (DAR) birds are dispersed throughout the southeast with over 30 birds in Florida, a smattering of birds in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, and 15-20 birds in Tennessee. As the cranes settle for the winter, our thoughts turn to the very important next steps in the annual Whooping Crane cycle, the spring migration back to Wisconsin and the 2009 breeding season.
Since we experienced the thrill of the first wild-hatched chick in the eastern migratory population in 2006, we have not enjoyed any further success in the recruitment of wild chicks. Indeed we were disappointed first in 2007 when all five nests of four incubating pairs (4 initial nests and 1 re-nest) failed to hatch eggs and then again in 2008 when the number of incubating pairs grew to eleven and again none hatched eggs. In the 2009 breeding season that begins in March we will be conducting two focused studies to better understand this lack of hatching success and mitigate whatever might be the cause.
Our colleague, Richard Urbanek, Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that after the nest failures in 2007, a number of explanations were proposed but none were fully consistent with the pattern of nesting failures. In 2008, one nesting pair defended their nest against a costumed observer but once the observer left, the birds ran through a willow thicket with their heads down. Black fly harassment was hypothesized to explain their behavior. Similar behavior was noted for the same pair in 2007. With this background, Richard will test to determine whether nesting failures by Whooping Cranes are due, at least in part, to black fly attacks. Objectives of this study are to map breeding distributions of bird-feeding black flies, to document how cranes respond to black flies, screen black flies for the presence of fly-borne disease organisms, and to monitor black fly population levels in the nesting areas.
ICF’s Michael Putnam and Kelly Maguire will also pursue an investigation to better understand these nesting failures. Mike and Kelly will focus on up to six nesting pairs to test whether the birds incur negative energy balances during incubation, and if so, does the available diet in these wetlands contribute to nesting failure? In this study they will compile time budgets for nesting pairs and other birds during the pre-nesting and nesting periods in Wisconsin.
Specifically Mike and Kelly will monitor the time spent on breeding grounds before and during incubation and record time spent in obligatory behaviors (feeding and vigilance) or elective behaviors (preening or rest). Overall, they will work to determine the birds’ energy balance (are the breeding cranes getting enough food?) and the impact this balance has on nesting outcomes. Over time we hope to learn how the energetics of these nesting birds affects nesting success and what might be done to mitigate those effects.
And so with plans to learn about crane nesting biology and improve the results of an important long term project, we begin a new year. This year is certainly fraught with unknowns and economic challenges, yet it is my great pleasure, in closing, to acknowledge the new support of a local corporate partner, Epic Systems Corporation of Verona, Wisconsin. Epic is a 30-year-old business that provides advanced software for healthcare organizations to improve the quality of patient care throughout the world. Through Chief Information Officer, Tim Escher, Epic donated 16 late model desktop computers to ICF which drastically reduces the operating funds we must invest in computers during this coming year. This generous support could not come at a better time. Thank you, Tim and Epic!
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| NOTES FROM CO-FOUNDER |
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George Archibald, ICF Co-founder writes on February 10, 2009: Ellie joined the Board of ICF in 2002 and the Felburn Foundation became a major supporter. Ellie travelled with ICF staff to experience the cranes in the wild in China, Japan and Bhutan. Her favorite experience with cranes was at Poyang Lake, China. On a cold, misty morning she was sitting alone on a large boulder waiting for me when suddenly a flock of Siberian Cranes appeared from the fog low overhead. Their calls were soft and musical. Then as quickly as they appeared, they vanished. Gifts from the Felburn Foundation supported the following ICF projects: studies of Sarus Cranes in India; the conservation of the White-bellied Herons in Bhutan; operational needs of Muraviovka Park, Russia and of ICF headquarters; the Felburn Wing of the Chick Isolation-rearing Facility at ICF; the Felburn Rooms of the Donnelley Family Education Center; renovations of Crane City, our on-site breeding facility; studies of Siberian Cranes at Poyang Lake; and the reintroduction of Whooping Cranes into the eastern US. Ellie was a lady with great zest, warmth, integrity and kindness. She will be greatly missed but long remembered. George Archibald |
