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One of the rarest birds in North America will soon be making
its way through the Sooner State and biologists are asking for your help in
tracking the migration path.
“Whooping cranes are a federally endangered bird, with
slightly more than 500 birds in the entire wild flock,” said Matt Fullerton,
endangered species biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife
Conservation. “A majority of those birds will pass through Oklahoma on their
return flight from Canada to South Texas.”
Oklahoma’s Wildlife Department
compiles sightings from wildlife enthusiasts each year to help the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service track the endangered birds as they pass through our state.
“Sightings can be shared online and
off,” Fullerton said.
The online report form, found at
wildlifedepartment.com, collects the date and specific location of the
sighting, as well as the number of birds seen and any applicable band
information (color or number sequence). Offline reports can be made to
Fullerton at (580) 571-5820 or Mark Howery, wildlife diversity biologist for
the Wildlife Department, at (405) 990-7259.
Most whooping cranes are reported
in Oklahoma from mid-October through November. Sightings often come from western
Oklahoma, typically east of Guymon and west of Interstate 35.
A 2,500-Mile Journey
Biologists have long been chronicling
the endangered bird’s annual path to and from the northern Canadian breeding
grounds, but last year a six month old whooping crane logged the 2,500 mile
flight wearing a satellite-based telemetry unit. The young bird, accompanied
by its parents, made the complete journey from Canada’s Northwest Territories
to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas in 53 days. The family group
made 10 stopovers, or “pit stops,” in areas with high quality wetlands and
prairies, underscoring the importance of international habitat conservation
efforts.
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