Reward for information on Whooping Crane Killings

In December, three DAR (Direct Autumn Relase) Whooping Cranes were shot in Georgia.  These birds were part of a reintroduction effort started by the International Crane Foundation, and were on migration between Wisconsin and Georgia, when they were found dead by hunters.  The cranes were thought to be shot sometime before December 30th.  If you have any information about this horrendous crime, please contact U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Terry Hasting at 404-763-7959 and/or Georgia Department of Natural Resources 24hr. TIP  Hotline at 1-800-241-4113.  The reward for information is now up to $20,800.  Whooping Cranes are a critically endangered species, and less than 400 remain in existence. 

Donations in response to this crime are best channeled into the reward money, as it is very likely that someone knows who did this.

Crested Caracaras in Florida

adult Crested Caracara (note black plumage and bright white head feathers, in addition to bright yellow legs)

Crested Caracaras are members of the family Falconidae (which includes other species like Kestrels, Merlins and Hobbies, and the Peregrine Falcon). Recently, through genetic work, it was discovered that Falconidae is more closely related to parrots than other raptors. There are 11 known species of caracara, one of which is extinct. Crested Caracara is the only one found in the United States.

Caracara’s are named for the sound they make when they throw their head back in a “rattle” call. They are well known as Mexican Vultures or Mexican Eagles, and are found on the official seal of Mexico (with a snake in their talons). Caracaras eat carrion and also live prey, and aren’t above snatching prey from other species. I’ve seen them snatch prey from Cattle Egrets and Wood Storks, and have also seen disputes (likely territorial) between caracaras and Great Blue Herons, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks, and Bald Eagles.

Caracaras have very large territories. In Florida, this territory is usually centered around clumps of cabbage palm on cattle ranches. Crested Caracaras nest mostly in Cabbage Palm, but have been known to nest in other tree species.

Population numbers of Crested Caracaras in Florida have been dropping in the last hundred years, mainly as a result of habitat destruction (combined with development pressure and road-kills). When ranch lands are converted to housing developments, factory sites, or large-scale agriculture, the Cabbage Palms that Caracaras depend on are cut, and pairs are displaced off their breeding territories. Pairs do seem to mate for life, and once a territory is established, the pair will likely remain on it for the rest of their lives. A 16 year old caracara was recently recovered as a road kill, and it had moved only 9 km from where it was banded as a sub adult.

You may see caracaras on the edge of cities or developments. My guess is that these are birds that have been displaced by development elsewhere, or they are birds that are attempting to hold out on their historic territories until the habitat can no longer meet their needs. Caracaras may actually appear to benefit initially from construction; they are attracted to recently burned areas, recently cleared ditches, and recently cleared brush piles, where they are likely to find a large concentration of lizards, frogs and bugs to eat. But these benefits are only temporary; if the Cabbage Palms that they depend on are taken out, the birds will likely abandon their territories in search of more suitable habitat.

The project I am working on seeks to find out specifically how breeding pairs of Crested Caracara react to large-scale development on and near their territories. Many of our focal pairs nesting areas are not directly on proposed project sites, but are on the edge of these lands. Because caracaras have such large territories, which do overlap on these project sites, one can hypothesize that home range will either shift or shrink, depending on suitability of surrounding lands. If caracaras are particularly sensitive to a certain type of development (that is, if their Cabbage Palms/nesting trees are cut and/or their foraging/roosting areas are destroyed or decreased to some level), it is likely they will move on, to “greener pastures.” Unfortunately for a caracara, greener pastures are few and far between in Florida. And, if they do find such an ideal land (cattle ranch), they most likely won’t be welcomed with the label of an endangered species.

While there are laws and regulations that govern the extent of development allowed, I can only hope that private landowners can continually recognize the importance of this species, and work towards common goals of land preservation and stewardship. For a species with such a small range in Florida, a displaced caracara has only so many places it can retreat to.

The following is a collection of photos of Crested Caracaras in juvenile plumage, and one in sub adult plumage.  Notice the streaked pattern on the neck and breast of juveniles, as opposed to the barred pattern on sub adults and adults.  Also note the overall brown plumage, "bulging" eyes, and pale grey legs. Alex wrote a good summary post on how to age Caracaras while he was visiting, which you can find at this link Nemesis Bird

Crested Caracara - juvenile

Crested Caracara - subadult

 

Crested Caracara - juvenile

Crested Caracara - juvenile

 

Crested Caracara - juvenile

Christmas Bird Count, Avon Park Florida: January 6, 2011

Yesterday, I participated in the Christmas Bird Count at Avon Park through Archbold Biological Station.  Jen, Alex, and I joined Reed and Shane who work at Archbold, and started birding at 5:45 am in the dark.  We called for Eastern Screech Owl, and didn't hear any, but Reed and Shane each heard Screech Owls later in the day.  We also heard Barred Owls calling at a few different sites, in the dark and during daylight hours.  Some of the good birds we found were a Purple Gallinule, a Peregrine Falcon, a Northern Waterthrush, and a flock of Horned Larks, the last of which has not been recorded at Avon Park before.  My favorite birds of the day were Yellow-throated Warbler, which we saw a handful of, and Brown-headed Nuthatches, which were at a few of the sites we stopped.  The complete checklist, compiled by Alex, is at the bottom of the page after photos (click for larger photos).  Visit Alex's website to see his photos.

Sunrise over the marsh

Laughing Gallinule (formerly Purple Gallinule)

Northern Waterthrush

Pine Warblers, the most numerous warbler of the day (211)

Alex trying to flush sparrows

House Wren

1 of 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks we saw during the count

adult Bald Eagle

Yellow-throated Warbler

Black and White Warbler

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Florida Scrub Jay

Alex looking for birds in a dried up lake bed

Wood Ducks flying to roost

Mottled Ducks flying to roost

Complete CBC Check List
Wood Duck 135 - Flocks seen flying to roost location at sunset.

Mottled Duck 6
Blue-winged Teal 2
Hooded Merganser 2 - 1 adult male, 1 adult female
Northern Bobwhite 6
Wild Turkey 9 females
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Anhinga 14
American Bittern 1 heard calling only
Great Blue Heron 11
Great Egret 40
Little Blue Heron 3 adults
Tricolored Heron 8
Green Heron 4
Black-crowned Night-Heron 10 - 4 juveniles, 6 adults
White Ibis 132 mostly adults, very few juveniles were seen
Wood Stork 6
Black Vulture 39
Turkey Vulture 93
Bald Eagle 4 - 3 adults, 1 4th year; two adults were seen together at one point; later in the day an adult was seen chasing a 4th year; one adult was seen later in the day soaring alone
Northern Harrier 5 - 3 adult males, 2 juveniles
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 juveniles
Cooper's Hawk 1 juvenile
Red-shouldered Hawk 16 - 15 adults, 1 juvenile
Red-tailed Hawk 2 adults
American Kestrel 4
Peregrine Falcon 1 adult; seen twice during the day, both times soaring
King Rail 4 heard calling only
Purple Gallinule 1 foraging with Common Moorhens
Common Moorhen 14 - 12 adults, 2 juveniles
Sandhill Crane 121
Killdeer 38
Greater Yellowlegs 17
Wilson's Snipe 5 flushed out of wetlands
Rock Pigeon 8 foraging in field
Mourning Dove 38
Common Ground-Dove 11
Eastern Screech-Owl 2 heard calling only
Barred Owl 5 heard calling only
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-headed Woodpecker 3 - 1 adult, 2 immature
Red-bellied Woodpecker 19
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4 - 1 adult male, 3 juveniles
Downy Woodpecker 9
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 4
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Eastern Phoebe 24
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Loggerhead Shrike 8
White-eyed Vireo 5
Blue-headed Vireo 9
Blue Jay 27
Florida Scrub-Jay 4
American Crow 80
Horned Lark 40 single flyover flock; calling the entire time they were in sight
Tree Swallow 96
Tufted Titmouse 3
Brown-headed Nuthatch 10 - groups of 2 or 4 seen or heard at various areas
Carolina Wren 8
House Wren 4
Marsh Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 17
Eastern Bluebird 30
American Robin 147
Gray Catbird 11
Northern Mockingbird 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 153
Yellow-throated Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 211
Prairie Warbler 1
Palm Warbler (Western) 131
Black-and-white Warbler 8
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 66
Eastern Towhee 16
Chipping Sparrow 55
Savannah Sparrow 35
Swamp Sparrow 200
Northern Cardinal 14
Red-winged Blackbird 8000
Eastern Meadowlark 7
Common Grackle 405
Boat-tailed Grackle 33
Brown-headed Cowbird 20
American Goldfinch 8 heard calling as flyovers



Status of Eastern Migratory Population of Whooping Cranes

Since leaving my job with the International Crane Foundation, I've encountered many people in my travels who ask how the Whooping Cranes of the Eastern Migratory Population (all reintroduced cranes) are doing.  The fact is that the current status of this population is grim, and as much as I'd like to portray optimism and hope for the future of this flock, there are no scientific facts or research publically available that support this outlook.  The total number of cranes that make up the EMP now stands at 99 individuals.  These cranes have continual problems regarding nest failtures, and scientific and unbiased research from outside the project is needed to get to the bottom of these issues.  Simply adding more and more Whooping Cranes to this flock without understanding these nesting issues seems ethically questionable. From a biological and therefore unbiased stand point, I would strongly caution against releasing large or increased numbers of Whooping Cranes into the wild.  There is no need to take advantage of the weak status of the flock as an argument to increase its size, for questionable motives.  Now, more than ever, reasons for wanting to increase the number of cranes released should be investigated.  Currently, adult survival seems to be too low to sustain a flock, and it may be that there are a combination of poorly researched issues that contribute to this. 

In conclusion, I want more than anything for this flock to succeed, but these cranes are facing biological issues after release that are deeply affecting their survival and nest success.  Please encourage members of WCEP (the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/) to continually re-evaluate the status of this flock. I can only hope that they realize that quality is better than quantity.  A vital aspect of conservation and reintroduction programs is knowing when to recognize failure.  Despite the oblivious optimism that is continually portrayed to the public, these biological and ethical issues exist and it is critical that they are addressed.