Hunting could hurt genetic diversity
of Eastern population Sandhill cranes

Sandhill Crane, Barren KY. Photo by David L. Roemer

With the first of a three-year, experimental Kentucky season on Sandhill Cranes just ended, a Wisconsin lawmaker has introduced a bill to allow hunting of the species in his state. At the heart of the bill is the alleged issue of crop predation by the cranes.

A red flag has been raised by Wisconsin scientists. In a recent study by avian genetics specialists at the University of Wisconsin, findings suggest genetic diversity may be key to long-term survival rates and stability of the eastern population of Sandhill cranes (differs genetically from western Sandhills).   Any hunt could adversely effect this vulnerable population only now rebounding from near extinction in the early 20th century.  Read more about the research here.

Congratulations to Tennessee on its wildly successful Sandhill Crane Festival weekend!

Visitors at the TN Sandhill Crane festival enjoy watching the cranes. Photo by Vickie Henderson

Kudos are in order to Tennessee for organizing and hosting its spectacular, annual watchable wildlife event – the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival weekend – where the presence of cranes was celebrated by thousands of visitors.

The Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge is one of the largest sandhill crane staging areas in the east, second only to Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in Indiana.  Sandhill cranes stop-over at the Hiwassee Wildlife refuge near Dayton, TN to feed and rest as they migrate south to Georgia and Florida for the winter.  As many as 10,000 may remain, over-wintering in Tennessee.

Thousands of Sandhill Cranes lift off at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge. The rare Asian Hooded Crane is among the flying Sandhills. Photo by Vickie Henderson.

Wintering Whooping Cranes, (attributable to the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership’s (WCEP’s) two re-introduction programs:  Operation Migration’s ultralight-led migration, and the Direct Autumn Release program), are welcome visitors to Hiwassee. And, beginning December 13, 2011, the refuge has also had the distinction of hosting a rare Asian Hooded Crane.  (As of January 7th, more than 2,388 visitors, representing nine countries and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 40 states and the District of Columbia have visited the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge to see this crane). Sightings of both these spectacular birds were enjoyed by many visitors during the January 14-15 festival weekend.

Photo credit: Mike Nelson. Hooded crane (dark gray with white neck) with sandhill cranes at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Tennessee.

More than 2,200 people enjoyed the sandhill crane viewing at the festival on Saturday, January 14 and close to that number were present on Sunday, January 15! The festival was sponsored by the Tennessee Ornithological Society (TOS), Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and the Barbara J Mapp Foundation. Events were coordinated among three sites, the Birchwood School, the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge observation area, and the Cherokee Removal Memorial, where educational displays, interpreters, presentations and refreshments were available for festival participants.

Links of interest:
Special thanks to Vickie Henderson for use of festival photographs and information! Visit Vickie Henderson’s site at:  http://vickiehenderson.blogspot.com/

Directions to Birchwood and the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge
Tennessee Watchable Wildlife on Sandhill Cranes
Morgan Simmons Jan 10 article Knoxville News Sentinel:  Rare Crane Joins Hiwassee Flock
International Crane Foundation:  http://www.savingcranes.org

Prior to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918, sandhill cranes were “harvested” in an unregulated fashion, so that by the beginning of the 20th century the North American population had plummeted to an extraordinary low. The MBTA established protection for birds from uncontrolled hunting activities, and as a direct result, the
crane population slowly began to rebound.

The Sandhill Cranes that migrate through Kentucky each spring and fall are part of
the “Eastern Population” (EP), nesting primarily in southern Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and formerly wintering primarily in central Florida. However, in recent years, increasing numbers have short-stopped in migration to winter at places like Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge near Chattanooga, Tennessee and at Barren River Lake (making use of exposed mudflats) in south-central Kentucky.

This increase over the last decade in the eastern population of Sandhills prompted USFWS and the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways Councils to approve a hunting season on the formerly protected, migratory species that has taken almost a century –
97 YEARS! – to recover from being hunted.

However, according to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) this hunt will have no negative impact on the eastern population of Sandhill Cranes or effect wildlife viewing opportunities. A point that would probably be argued
by the 400-500 cranes that may die this season, and by those opposed to the hunt (thousands of individuals not only from Kentucky but almost every state in the eastern United States), and shown otherwise by scientific data presented by the International Crane Foundation.

It is our hope that the other states in the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways will make the right decision and celebrate Sandhill Cranes as a wildlife-watching resource rather than game bird.

So now, with heavy hearts, Kentuckians will scan the skies hoping for a glimpse of swirling cranes usually long preceded by their haunting, gurgling garoo calls  – bookends to the seasons – and wish them safe journey.

                                                                         – The Kentucky Coalition for Sandhill Cranes