Monday, June 29, 2009

Girnar's mysterious Siberian cranes!

Is the visit of the stunning Siberian cranes to the Girnar forest hills in Gujarat, the state's best kept secret? If the company building the ropeway to the temple atop Girnar Hill in Junagadh, Usha Breco, is to be believed, the Sibes are one of the 20 endangered species found in the Girnar hills! This, ornithologists and naturalists of the region assert, is "absurd", as this highly endangered species of cranes has never visited Gujarat.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Sibley Guide to Birds now On-line

Kachemak Crane Watch project records changes in crane stopovers and increased eagle predation

Of the 10 sandhill cranes fitted with satellite transmitters last year, five returned to Homer this season, lending researchers a rare glimpse into the ancient cranes' migration route.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Bharatpur resurrected

Water, leaky nukes, and you

Hadden also suggested the potential impact of the plant’s radioactive emissions on nearby nesting whooping cranes should be studied considering he ongoing drought that has severely impacted the endangered bird.

Locals help family of birds cross the road for years

— Mary Barber sees them nearly every day in the spring.

The longtime local watches as a family of sandhill cranes plays out a ritual that has stretched more than a decade.

“They always nest in the marshy area near the pond, and once the chicks are big enough, they go across the road every morning, and they return every night,” she said Thursday.

Sarus Crane


BEST SEEN AT: Ettawa-Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh
STATUS: Vulnerable/Schedule IV
GOOD TO KNOW:
They are the world’s tallest flying bird and the only resident crane of India

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Rampant poaching of Sarus crane in Uttar Pradesh


The population of Sarus crane in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh is fast dwindling due to illegal
poaching.

Photo by: Kunan Naik

Shifting bird population patterns a mystery

By Katherine Bouma
Newhouse News Service

Birmingham —- Something is powerfully affecting the birds wintering in northern Alabama, increasing the numbers of many, bringing new species and causing others to dwindle.

Scientists don't know whether it's climate change, a recovery from the banned pesticide DDT or some mystery factor.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Whooping crane bound for zoo

A wild whooping crane came to depend on feeders when wintering in Spring Hill and will have to be sent to a zoo.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Texas wind farms deploy radar so birds, not feathers, can fly

WASHINGTON — Wind on the Texas coast is tempting for energy companies. Unlike other parts of Texas — the nation's No. 1 wind energy state — the coast has breezes that blow consistently on summer days, when energy demand peaks. But there's risk, too.

Image by: johndan

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Number of Sarus cranes increases in Mekong Delta

Mekong Delta Province of Kien Giang’s measures to protect 200 hectares of bang grass (Lepironia articulata), which provide both a habitat for red-crowned cranes (Sarus) and material for the traditional occupation of making grass products, in Kien Luong District are showing results, a report said.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Rare Crane Hatching Marks a Victory for Both Science and Conservation

A rare white-naped crane has hatched at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va ., May 23. The two-week-old female chick is the most genetically important hatchling in the North American White-Naped Crane Species Survival Program.

Newborn Female White-Naped Crane Is One Cute Chick


Think your kids are awesome? Think you're awesome? Talk to the white-naped crane that was just born at the Smithsonian National Zoo

Climate change threatens South Africa's blue crane stronghold

JOHANNESBURG, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Climate change is threatening the extinction of South Africa's national bird, the Blue Crane, in the Western Cape, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) said on Friday

Thursday, June 4, 2009

White-naped Crane hatches at NZP-Conservation Research Center

Another white-naped crane hatching has occured at Front Royal. This is the 2nd hatch this year for the NA white-naped crane Species Survival Plan. The mother is the genetically most valuable female crane in the NA captive population. Again, biologists at CRC used both AI and egg sexing techniques to hatch this valuable chick.

Alberta Sandhill crane hunt cancelled

Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald

CALGARY - The Alberta government has decided against allowing a sandhill crane hunt this year, saying there are lingering concerns that hunters could mistake endangered whooping cranes for their more common cousins.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Selenium standard too high

This article from the Salt lake Tribune discusses issues with how much selenium to allow in the Great Salt Lake. Mentions that cranes have been killed by elevated selenium levels in the past.

Study: Are black flies affecting whooping crane reproduction?

NECEDAH — Wildlife biologists, worried by the inability of endangered whooping cranes to nest successfully at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, are investigating whether black flies may be driving the birds off their nests. - Jim Lee, Gannett Wisconsin Media