Famed Hog Island Reopens

The National Audubon Society will reopen its legendary Hog Island for four adult ornithology sessions and one teen bird studies session during the summer of 2010.  Dr. Steve Kress, Audubon’s VP for Bird Conservation will direct the sessions. He will be joined by some of the country’s top ornithologists who will serve as instructors, including - Kenn Kaufman, Pete Dunne, and Scott Weidensaul.   Additionally, said Dr. Kress, there will be two totally new sessions offered in association with Elder Hostel (now Exploritas)   where participants will assist Project Puffin biologists to census gulls, eiders and cormorants at several nearby seabird nesting islands.  Participants in the September session will learn about land and seabirds through bird banding and presentations and assist with a habitat management project for endangered terns and storm-petrels at Eastern Egg Rock.

Known to thousands as the Audubon Camp in Maine, Hog Island was closed during the summer of 2009 to permit planning for the future. This process led to Project Puffin bringing back the popular ornithology programs for adults and teens. The adult programs are for both beginning and avid birders who would like to learn more about Maine birdlife and the biology of birds. The teen session is for 14-17 year olds with a keen interest in birds. This session is co-sponsored by the American Birding Association. Due to its varied habitats, Hog Island and vicinity are an ideal setting for the program, as more than 100 species frequent the area.

Participants live in authentic, turn of the century housing on the 330 acre spruce-covered island.  Here, they will enjoy three home-cooked meals a day in an historic island farmhouse that overlooks Muscongus Bay.  During the five-day sessions, small field groups will go on a variety of trips and boat cruises, and attend workshops and presentations on topics ranging from migration and the identification of warblers to the restoration of Atlantic Puffins and terns on nearby Eastern Egg Rock.
The Hog Island camp first opened in 1936, with Roger Tory Peterson as its first bird instructor.  It is well known in America’s environmental community as a distinguished and beautiful place of learning and enjoyment.  For more information on dates, sessions, costs, instructors, etc. visit www.projectpuffin.org To read testimonials and see photos from previous Hog Island programs, visit  www.naturecompass.org/fohi.

Bird Monitoring at the Catamount Outdoor Family Center

by Carl Runge

The Catamount Outdoor Family Center is a 500 acre preserve on Governor Chittenden Road in Williston owned by Jim and Lucy McCullough.  It is a recreational facility offering mountain biking, running and hiking in the summer and fall, and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. It is operated as not for profit organization with a master Plan for future development and use.

This property is rich in bird life. It consists of a number of diverse habitats including northern hardwood, white pine-hardwood, and hemlock forests, early successional forest, marshes, ponds, and open fields and grasslands.  Between 1996 and 2008 we identified 94 species at Catamount and confirmed breeding status on 24 during the Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas years, 2003-2007.  The GMAS has held several field trips at Catamount all of which have been very productive and enjoyable. This prompted us to think that Catamount would be a great addition to Vermont areas designated by Audubon Vermont as IBAs (Important Bird Areas).

To this end, we at the GMAS, with the assistance and enthusiastic cooperation of the McCulloughs, submitted an application for IBA status to Audubon Vermont in September 2008.  Our arguments were as follows: Catamount includes several healthy habitats producing a wide diversity of bird species, both migratory and breeding; Catamount has several areas of grasslands with well established  breeding populations of Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows; finally, management practices at Catamount optimize breeding success. A major focus of the owner’s not for profit organization is to increase educational opportunities for nature and conservation. We envision Catamount becoming a major nature education center in Chittenden County.

In support of our application to AV, since April, 2009, we have been monitoring birds on the Catamount property each week.  Every Thursday morning we survey one of the four quadrants at Catamount. Thus, we cover the whole area every four weeks. We do cumulative counts, taking care not to double count birds on the return route. Each count takes two to three hours. Regular participants in the monitoring walks so far are Ali Wagner, Bill Mercia, Bruce MacPherson, Larry Haugh, Louanne Nielsen, Bill and Mae Mayville, and myself.

On our thirteen outings this spring and summer, we recorded 79 species, including eight that are new for the area.  We confirmed breeding in 17 species, seven new for the area. Notable new species include Winter Wren, Osprey, and Blue-winged Warbler. New breeding confirmations include Wood Duck, Mallard, American Kestrel, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Baltimore Oriole. Thus, to date we have identified a total of 102 species, including 31 confirmed breeders. All of our data from 2009 have been entered into the VT eBird database.

Audubon Vermont has yet to make a decision on our application for IBA status. On July 20, Bruce MacPherson, Lucy, Jim and I met with Jim Shallow of AV to discuss the progress of our application. Jim indicated that the IBA concept and process is in flux and is probably moving in the direction of larger tracts of land for inclusion as an IBA. Nevertheless, the IBA application remains active, and we agreed upon a common goal for Catamount: that all parties will work together toward conservation, stewardship, and education at Catamount, particularly with regards to birds and bird habitat.  Several steps were articulated and assigned which we hope will achieve this goal.

In the meantime, we will continue our monitoring efforts. So if you would like to enjoy excellent birding on Thursday mornings, come over to the Catamount Family Center and join us. The more eyes and ears we have helping out, the more complete our counts will be.

The photograph of a male Scarlet Tanager is courtesy of Roy Pilcher.

Catamount Outdoor Family Center Birding Checklist

A Tribute to Caryn Gronvold

After many years of service to the Green Mountain Audubon Society, Caryn Gronvold has retired from the Board of Directors.  Since 1977, Caryn has been a member of the Board for all except 5 years.  She served for four years as the President of the Board in the past and has just completed a two year term as our Treasurer.  In between, Caryn has served the Green Mountain Audubon Society in many capacities. Back in the days when volunteers were the “staff” of the Green Mountain Audubon Center, Caryn was an ecology field trip guide.  For two years, she chaired the auction to raise funds to support the Audubon Center, an undertaking which required an enormous commitment of time and energy. 

For many years, Caryn co-chaired the committee which organized and ran the Sugar on Snow parties at the Audubon Center and she continues to volunteer to help staff that event. Caryn is one of the few people who can be called upon to cook syrup up to the proper temperature so it will “wax” properly when drizzled upon the snow!  For many years, Caryn was the chairperson of the Program Committee for the Green Mountain Audubon Society and she will continue to be a committee member after leaving the Board.  Currently, Caryn is a team leader in employee and labor relations for Human Resource Services at UVM.  We look forward to seeing her at many GMAS events in the future and wish her the best of luck in her retirement from the board. She leaves the Board with our heartfelt thanks for a job well done.

Into the Woods-Birding in the Hinesburg Town Forest

by Bruce MacPherson

Tucked away near the eastern border of Hinesburg is an 840 acre tract of public land known as the Hinesburg Town Forest. In July, 2008, Aaron Worthley evaluated this property on behalf of Audubon Vermont and wrote a report entitled “Forest Bird Habitat Assessment and Management Recommendations”. This report represents an excellent example of Audubon Vermont’s major conservation effort known as the Forest Bird Initiative. Working with private landowners and conservation committees in Vermont’s towns, wildlife biologists from Audubon Vermont assess the suitability of the available habitat to support birds and other wildlife, especially so-called responsibility birds, and offer management recommendations for improving or sustaining this habitat for birds. An important aspect of this evaluation is to confirm that the birds predicted to occupy the property are actually present. That’s where GMAS volunteers come in.

At the request of Steve Hagenbuch from Audubon Vermont, Bill Mercia organized a group of volunteers who visited the Hinesburg Town Forest on two occasions during the breeding season in June, performing area counts of the birds that were seen and heard at four selected points in the forest. This is an account of one of those monitoring walks.

We meet in the parking area near Hayden Hill Road West and walk to the first of the two points that Steve has selected for us. The weather is mild, 61 degrees, and cloudy with a threat of rain. Good weather for birding. This parcel of land consists mainly of Northern Hardwood Forest, especially sugar maple, white ash and beech trees. However, a patch of this forest has been recently harvested. We will evaluate points in both the disturbed and the undisturbed areas. Naturally, we will identify all of the birds that we hear or see, although the focus is on responsibility birds. At point 1, the harvested area, Ali Wagner hears and identifies the first bird as usual, an Ovenbird. In quick succession Bill Mercia and Mae Mayville identify a Black-throated Blue Warbler, a Blue-headed Vireo, and a Black-throated Green Warbler-all responsibility birds. We are off to a good start. Bill Mayville spots another Ovenbird flitting around in the brush. Possibly there is a nesting pair. Bill Mercia picks out the song of a Mourning Warbler, an excellent discovery. I identify a Blue Jay.

After 30 minutes of watching and listening we move on to point 2 a few hundred yards down the trail. This area is undisturbed forest. Still we hear birds. First we hear a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker’s beat, trailing, off at the end. Then another Blue Jay jeering at us. Next we hear the flutey song of a Wood Thrush in the distance. Cool. Shirley Johnson finds a Black-and-White Warbler inching out on a branch above us. Shirley always finds Black-and-white Warblers when I can’t.  Chip Wright points out a Downy Woodpecker that is tapping on a dead snag nearby. Nice. Ovenbirds seem to be everywhere. And both Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos call from above. Without acute hearing these birds probably would have been missed. After 30 minutes we have heard and seen enough. It is time to move on to points 3 and 4.  But wait. A Broad-winged Hawk is circling overhead. Not a responsibility bird, but a welcome sighting nonetheless. No wonder the woods became so noisy when we walked out.

Steve’s monitoring protocol states that we only need to spend 6 minutes at each point to count the birds adequately, but we enjoy spending time in the forest and allow ourselves to dally. The next points are located on the opposite side of the Hinesburg Town Forest near the entrance at Economou Road. Here the habitat changes again. Point 3 is a softwood plantation composed of white pine, red pine, and Norway spruce. Here we expect to find Pine Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, and Dark-eyed Juncos and we do!  In fact, juncos are chattering everywhere. We hear, an Eastern Wood-Pewee in the distance as well as more vireos. Alison hears a Yellow-rumped Warbler, but I’m not sure. She’s probably right. Carl Runge spots still another Ovenbird as well as a White-breasted Nuthatch. Enough. We move on to point 4.

Point 4 consists of a stand of young Northern Hardwoods. Immediately, we hear the songs of Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers. At the very top of a tall sugar maple Bill Mercia identifies a handsome male Baltimore Oriole. Otherwise, the woods are getting quieter as the morning progresses. A Veery, a Wood Thrush, and a few vireos fill out the list. We are done for today. But we will return here in two weeks to repeat this walk. We are coming to the end of the breeding season, so we expect that the woods will be quieter the next time that we do our point counts. In the meantime the data will be entered into the Vermont eBird database and sent to Steve. He will compare our observations with his predictions and will follow the results that we obtain in the managed areas as the early successional forest matures. We look forward to participating in the Forest Bird Initiative next year and for many years to come.

The aerial map of the Hinesburg Town Forest showing habitat sections and count points is provided courtesy of Steve Hagenbuch.

Birder's Dozen

by David Jaffe

 Even if you haven’t spent much time in the kitchen, it is likely you have come across the term "a baker’s dozen" and would know roughly where to look for one of the "dozen".  However, would you know where to look for one of the "birder’s dozen" or even what this term refers to? Recently, Audubon Vermont published a list called The Birder’s Dozen, twelve common breeding birds in Vermont that Audubon is working hard to protect.

These are birds, sometimes referred to as “responsibility birds”, which have “…a high proportion of its global population breeding in the region”, implying that conservation efforts should focus on preserving habitat where these birds have been observed. The twelve responsibility birds that make up the "Birder's Dozen" include American Woodcock, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Blue-headed Vireo, Veery, Wood Thrush, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Canada Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, and Scarlet Tanager.

In June, 2008, I worked with the The Nature Conservancy to study which bird species occurred in forests bordering the Little Chazy River in northeastern New York.  Such forests are known as riparian zones or buffer strips and they tend to host a greater diversity of plants and animals than the surrounding landscape. The landscape within the Little Chazy watershed is a mixed-use habitat, typical of the Lake Champlain valley. As one drives through this basin, agricultural fields, small villages, and rivers descending from the nearby Adirondack Mountains are a few of the common sights.

The riparian condition of this habitat such as many trees or no trees, the proximity of agriculture to the river, and whether the forest strip along the river is continuous or highly fragmented, is significant for many reasons, including water quality and bird activity. Traveling downstream from the headwaters of the Little Chazy River, the width of the riparian zone varies from 100+feet to just several feet. Overall, the buffer zone is considerably less in the lower reaches of the river. Thus, I speculated that the species richness, that is the number of different kinds of forest dwelling birds, would decrease significantly as one moved downstream.

Interestingly enough, my data did not support this hypothesis. Each site had a species richness ranging from 6 to 22 per site and there was no evidence for a linear, decreasing trend from upstream to downstream. What was significant was that the number of species observed at sites that were moderately disturbed was greater than the numbers of species observed at either minimally or heavily disturbed sites. At these sites along the river I observed examples of all of the "Birder's Dozen" except American Woodcock and Canada Warbler.

My results agree with the findings of a classic 1978 study by Joseph Connell that described the “intermediate disturbance hypothesis”. Essentially, his idea was that moderately disturbed landscapes have greater species diversity than minimally or heavily disturbed landscapes. Why should this be true? Think about an intact forest with no gaps, clearings, standing dead trees or coarse woody debris on the ground and no difference in the height of the canopy. This is an example of minimally disturbed habitat and species diversity typically is low. Compare this to a forest that has just gone through a large windstorm. Some trees have been knocked down, providing gaps and space for sun-dependent herbs and saplings to sprout. There may be standing dead trees or dead trees on the ground (i.e. coarse woody debris). This moderately disturbed forest provides greater diversity of habitat than is true in minimally disturbed forests and therefore provides habitat for a greater variety of species.

The management implications of my observations are that perhaps in some areas of urban development, there may be benefit to maintaining moderate levels of disturbance. Maintaining open spaces around houses, selective harvesting of trees to diversify the canopy structure and provide gaps, allowing standing dead trees and coarse woody debris to stay on the ground for brush nesting birds and other animals are examples of management practices that might promote species diversity. Even creating a small buffer strip along a river can improve water quality tremendously whereas leaving no buffer strip at all provides habitat for few, if any, birds.

One of the first steps in any land management plan is to recognize what is present compared to what is desired. Becoming familiar with the Birder’s Dozen then finding these birds in the public land in your community is one step toward becoming a proactive land manager supporting community-based efforts that maintain water quality and increase local biodiversity.

David Jaffe is a graduate student in the Field Naturalist program at the University of Vermont. He will receive his M.S. degree in May, 2009. Thanks to Jim Shallow from Audubon Vermont for providing the photograph of the Black-throated Blue Warbler family.

Falcon's Nest

by Bruce MacPherson

Driving on the Bolton Notch Road in April is hazardous at best. Peregrine FalconIt's mud season, you know. Still, Shirley Johnson seems to be in control of the vehicle and besides, I'm not looking. Finally, we reach the spot we've been searching for. Chip Wright and Larry Haugh are there already. And a few minutes later Margaret Fowle drives up. We are gathered at the foot of one of the many cliffs visible from the Bolton Notch Road. But this one is special. It has been the site of a Peregrine Falcon nest for the past several years. We are here to receive training from Margaret for the Peregrine Falcon Monitoring Project, the follow up to the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Program that concluded a few years ago.

Peregrine Falcons are amazing birds. They can dive through the air at a speed of more than 200 miles per hour to catch their prey. But not too many years ago the Peregrine Falcon population was decimated by the pesticide DDT. Peregrine Falcons are perched at the top of the food chain. As a result, when DDT seeped into the food chain, it accumulated in the flesh of the falcons. The result was a marked decrease in egg production. DDT caused the eggs to be thin-shelled, fragile, and often non-viable. As time went on the population of Peregrine Falcons dropped precipitously as older birds died and were not replaced by fledged chicks. In fact, the eastern population was entirely eradicated. In the west, fewer than 400 nesting pairs of falcons remained, roughly 10% of the number found in better times.

Enter the U.S. government. In the 1972 the agricultural use of DDT was banned and Peregrine Falcons were placed on the Endangered Species list. In the late 1970's the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Program was begun. Over the next 20 years the Peregrine Falcon population increased dramatically. Currently, there are over 1600 nesting pairs in North America, far exceeding the program's goal of 631 nesting pairs. A few years ago Peregrine Falcons were delisted, but until 2015, there will be a continuing need to monitor the falcon population to be sure that this increase is sustained.

That's where we come in. Margaret tells us that last year there were 38 Peregrine Falcon nesting spots in Vermont. This is one of them. I stare at the face of the cliff. The cliff stares back. I see nothing. Suddenly, Margaret says, "I saw a feather move." Huh! "Up there. To the right of the bush at 1 o'clock, halfway up the cliff." I look through her scope. Sure enough I see the tail of a bird moving up and down. A falcon? Yes! A majestic male falcon flies into view and lands on a snag 25 yards from the nest site. A few minutes later he flies to the nest site. The female immediately flies off. This is what passes for courtship behavior among falcons. For the next few hours we watch the pair fly back and forth putting on a nice aerial show. Margaret patiently educates us on falcon lore, the recovery project, and our role in the monitoring program. We watch and listen.

By 1:30 P.M. it's over. One of the birds has left the site and the other is hidden in a cranny. Peregrine Falcons spend a lot of time conserving energy, Margaret assures us. No matter. We have learned what we need to know.

The next week, and for several weeks thereafter through June and early July we visit Snake Mountain to monitor the falcon’s nest there. Snake Mountain has been a reliable nesting site for falcons since at least 2001. Eric Lazarus, Bill Mercia, and Andrew Webbe lead the charge. The cliff face is visible from the parking lot, but Eric discovers a better spot closer to the mountain. During the season we see the falcons and watch their behavior, but, alas-no nest and no chicks. Finally, we conclude that their nesting attempt has failed. Why? Weather? Poor site selection? Predation? Human disturbance? Who knows. Hopefully, the falcons will be back at Snake Mountain next year and will achieve reproductive success. Hopefully, we will be back there, too, to wait and watch the falcon’s nest.

Photograph of a Female Peregrine Falcon at Fairlee by Steve Faccio.

Cranes!

Sandhill cranes in Vermont

by Bruce MacPherson

April 29, 2008.  Bristol  Pond.  6:45 P.M.  42  degrees  F. Overcast.  No wind.  A single Sandhill Crane just flew into the marsh south of the boat access parking lot.

Those are my field notes from that April evening.  But Sandhill Cranes in Vermont?  You bet!  For the past 3-4 years Sandhill Cranes have been sighted regularly in Vermont and in 2007 a pair of Sandhill  Cranes successfully fledged a single chick.  This information was dutifully recorded in the most recent Vermont Bird Breeding Atlas Survey.  This year this pair of cranes returned to Vermont and produced two “colts”, as young cranes are called. Here is some background information about one of Vermont’s newest resident bird species.

All told there are 15 species of cranes worldwide, but only two species of cranes inhabit North America-Whooping Cranes, which are endangered, and Sandhill Cranes, which are thriving.  In fact, there are over 600,000 Sandhill Cranes in North America.  The breeding range of Sandhill Cranes extends from Siberia, through Alaska and western Canada to the Pacific Northwest and the northern Midwestern states. Vermont is at the far eastern edge of the Sandhill Crane’s range, but, who knows?  Perhaps their range is expanding as their population grows.

The winter range of Sandhill Cranes includes  south Texas, south-central New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico.  Cranes also gather in staging areas during their Spring and Fall migration. More on this later.

Cranes are ancient birds. In fact, a 10 million year old crane fossil was excavated from the tar pits found at the Ashfall Fossil beds in Nebraska and a Sandhill Crane fossil identical in every detail to modern Sandhill Cranes was carbon-dated at 2,000,000 years old.  Apparently, Sandhill Cranes can adapt successfully to a changing environment.

Five Sandhill Crane subspecies have been described in the ornithological literature, two of which are migratory and three of which are not. Migratory Sandhill Cranes include the Greater and Lesser subspecies. Some authorities also include an intermediate-sized subspecies on this list-the Canadian subspecies. However, where cranes mingle on their wintering grounds, these  intermediate-sized birds overlap at both ends of the growth spectrum with Greater and Lesser Sandhll Cranes and cannot be reliably distinguished from them by either morphological criteria or DNA analysis.

The non-migratory subspecies are found in Cuba, Florida, and Mississippi. The Sandhill Crane population  in Florida appears to be stable, but both the Mississippi and Cuban subspecies are endangered.

Sandhill Cranes are majestic birds, somewhat resembling herons and egrets. Herons, egrets, and cranes are not closely related, though. Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets are assigned to the family Ardeidae,  whereas cranes occupy the family Gruidae. The scientific name for Sandhill Cranes is Grus canadensis.  Sandhill Cranes are 3-4 feet in length with a wing span approaching six feet. They have three long toes  on their feet  attached to long, featherless legs.  Cranes also have a vestigial posterior toe. However, unlike herons and egrets, cranes are unable to grasp branches. Accordingly, cranes roost on the ground, rather than in trees or perches like herons and egrets. Also, cranes fly with their neck extended in contrast to herons and egrets which fly with their neck coiled.

Sandhill Crane plumage is gray overall, but often their feathers take on a rust color due to “painting”  with iron-rich soil during preening. In addition to their long, dagger-shaped bill, adult Sandhill Cranes have a distinctive red crown, which becomes more prominent when they are excited, and a white face patch. In general, Sandhill Cranes are so distinctive that differentiating them from herons and egrets is not difficult.
And Sandhill Cranes dance! With enthusiasm! Why cranes dance is not fully understood, but this behavior probably serves as a courtship ritual during breeding season and a means of communication between cranes otherwise. Body posturing generally is a feature of crane behavior which may signify a warning to other cranes in the area that are vying for territory, a predator alert , or simply a sign from a leader saying “Let’s go.” Similarly, Sandhill Cranes utter a vast number of vocalizations to each other, including distinct contact, flight intention, location, and alarm calls.

Sandhill Cranes are omnivores, their diet consisting of grains, mice, snakes, frogs, eggs, and insects. However, on their staging grounds 80% of their diet consists of waste grain, especially corn. Managing the crane population on their wintering grounds and staging areas, where thousands of Sandhill Cranes gather, represents a formidable challenge, since a single Sandhill Crane consumes up to a half pound of grain per day. At the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary in Gibbon, Nebraska, where 500,000 Sandhill Cranes congregate for a month in March and April  before leaving for their breeding grounds, cranes eat about 1600 tons of waste corn during their stay.

Sandhill Cranes become sexually mature at 2-6 years of age and typically hatch 1-2 eggs in breeding season. Nests typically are constructed in a marsh surrounded by water where cranes roost at night. This habitat provides protection from nosy (and noisy) predators, who might attack the nest. Since on average Sandhill Cranes live about 25 years, they may produce a large number of offspring during their lifespan. Cranes are monogamous more or less and the family unit stays together during migration. Accordingly, scanning large flocks of Sandhill Cranes when they are on their wintering grounds reveals small clusters of cranes mingling and flying together. These birds represent family units.

In November, 2007, my wife Pam and I attended the 20th annual “Festival of the Cranes” at Bosque del Apache NWR in San Antonio, New Mexico. This festival celebrates the return of over 5000 Sandhill Cranes to their wintering grounds. We attended a variety of workshops and field trips, many devoted to Sandhill Cranes as well as the large variety of waterfowl and raptors that inhabit the refuge. One of our instructors was Keanna Leonard, the education coordinator at Rowe Audubon Sanctuary in Nebraska, the staging area for over 500,000 Sandhill Cranes in March-April. Keanna graciously agreed to answer a few questions about Sandhill Cranes for this article. Thanks to Bill and Mae Mayville who generously provided photographs of the Bristol Pond Cranes.

Cranes! A Conversation with Keanna Leonard

1. Keanna, during March and April, the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary, where you work, probably hosts more Sandhill Cranes than any other place in the world. What makes Rowe so special? How was your season last year?

The big bend region of the Platte River in central Nebraska does host the largest concentration of any Cranes in Vermont
species of cranes in the world. From around Valentine’s Day to Tax Day (April 15th) we see over 500,000 cranes. Rowe Sanctuary is located just yards from the some the most pristine river habit that cranes use for roosting.

We had around 12,000 visitors from all 50 states and 44 countries last year to witness what has been dubbed one of the top ten wildlife spectacles in the world.

2. The Sandhill Crane population seems to be thriving. Have Sandhill Cranes always been numerous or is this a recent phenomenon? Do you perceive any major threats to the population down the road?

In the 70’s it was reported that there were around 300,000 sandhill cranes. Over the past 30 years the population has grown to over a half million. The staging area along the Platte River is considered the critical point in the central migration route. Cranes stay in the area for approximately three weeks eating enough food to add around 20% to their body weight. The extra weight allows them to finish their migration north in good condition and ready to begin the nesting season. For those cranes who are looking for a mate, the Platte River is also considered the night club of love. The major threat is the loss of habitat. The river is diverted, dammed, supplies water for residential, industrial, agriculture, and recreational use. What is left over is for wildlife. The river is also threatened with invasive species such as phragmites, purple loosestrife and now salt cedar. We work with many other conservation organizations negotiating water usage and keeping the river channels clear and usable for the cranes and other animals that prefer wide, open, sandy channels – such as whooping cranes, piping plovers and least terns.

3. As you know, Sandhill Cranes are beginning to appear in the Northeast, including Vermont. Is there good evidence that Sandhill Cranes are expanding their range?

We have heard that cranes are moving into new and previously abandoned territories. That is good to hear!

4. The Sandhill Crane population is currently large and stable, whereas Whooping Cranes are endangered with less than 500 individuals alive in the United States. How do you account for the striking difference in the success of these two related birds?

Actually in this flyway we had over 250 whoopers migrate north this spring! With the introduced eastern population there are now around 400 whooping cranes. To put it simply, many have surmised that whooping cranes are just pickier when it comes to both habitat and food than Sandhill Cranes.

5. Where can birders go to find out more about Sandhill Cranes? Do you have a favorite book or reference?

I recommend that anyone who would like to read more about Sandhill Cranes find these two books: On Ancient Wings by Michael Forsberg and Crane Music by Dr. Paul Johnsgard. Good websites include the International Crane Foundation (www.savingcranes.org), Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust (www.whoopingcrane.org) and of course our website at www.rowesanctuary.org. Don’t forget to check out the Crane Cam that runs live throughout March and April. A great DVD is Crane Song by the NET Foundation for Television.

6. If Vermonters would like to plan a trip to the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary in Nebraska to see the Sandhill Cranes, what is the best time of year to visit? Do you conduct an organized program of lectures and field trips during the crane season?

The best time to see Sandhill Cranes is the first of March through the first week of April. We conduct field trips to our viewing blinds twice a day – 6:30 A.M. and P.M. - to watch cranes leave or come back to the river. During the day throughout the season we offer public educational programs. If people would like to get more involved, we also conduct one of the oldest wildlife conferences in the United States, the Rivers and Wildlife Celebration. We also offer families the chance to learn about cranes together at our Family Crane Carnival. If you are not able to come to Rowe, do check out the Crane Cam on our website.
To make reservations or to learn more about next year’s events, just give us a call at 308-468-5282.

7. I am confused about the subspecies of Sandhill Cranes. What is the basis for splitting out the Canadian subspecies from the lessers and greaters? Or is this separation not warranted?

Most biologists have dropped the Canadian subspecies. In the field it can be difficult to distinguish lessers from greaters, but basically the lesser sandhills are 20% smaller. Through this flyway we have the majority of the lesser Sandhill Cranes in the world, but we also see greaters.

8. I was surprised to discover that hunting Sandhill Cranes is permitted, although cranes are covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty. What is the impact of hunting on the Sandhill Crane population?

Most of the states in the western part of the United States do hunt Sandhill Cranes. Nebraska is the only state in the central migratory route that does not hunt them, in fact. Right now we are seeing no obvious impact of hunting on the growth of the crane population, though.