Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Migratory birds end up as pets and on restaurant menus

In Poyang Lake, the country's largest freshwater lake located in Jiangxi Province, migratory birds are under attack despite a regular campaign to protect the visitors, the People's Daily reported Monday. - By Huang Jingjing

Friday, November 26, 2010

Wattled Crane, the Second Tallest Species of Crane Comes to Paignton Zoo

Paignton, UK - A pair of wattled cranes has arrived from Paradise Park in Hayle. They were both hatched in 1984, the male in the UK, the female in Germany. - By Philip Knowling

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tenth group of endangered whooping cranes on guided flight to Florida

By News Staff, The Times-Herald

Eleven young whooping cranes have completed more than one-third of their migration from Wisconsin to Florida. They flew into Kentucky from Illinois Tuesday, landing in Union County, Ky.Only six to seven months old, the cranes have now traveled 463 miles and have another 795 miles to go.

Cranes settle into Paignton Zoo after move from Hayle's Paradise Park

A long way from the wide open skies of Africa, two giant cranes from the continent are now in residence in Devon, having made the long journey from....Cornwall.

Whooping Cranes Headed to Sunny St. Marks, Florida


The endangered cranes will travel a 'whooping' 1,285 air miles all the way from Wisconsin as part of the reintroduction project which conditions cranes from the day their hatched to their first guided flight.

Operation Migration will log more than 10,000 sky miles by the time they reach St. Marks, Florida. - WCTV.TV

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

From jail bird to free bird: crane rescued

By Ernest Herndon, Enterprise-Journal
An exotic bird, a Good Samaritan and the Amite County jail figure into a bizarre story that started Sunday afternoon and had a happy ending this morning.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The last wild Siberian Crane (Western flock - Iran)


A Siberian Crane sighting discussion from the birdforum - a forum for wild birds and birding.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Birds need heads up to avoid power lines

What do cranes, storks and bustards have in common? All three use the same feeding technique. They use their vision to guide the tips of their bills as they capture or pick up food. These birds have great vision when focusing at the tips of their bills. - by Marcia Davis

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Re-introduced Somerset crane goes missing

A Eurasian crane that was part of a group that was released in Somerset in September has gone missing. - BBC News

Thursday, November 4, 2010

South African birds in trouble

Wattled Crane by Ć’ernando / Flickr

Of the 10,000 bird species on Earth, 1,226 are listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Forty of these occur in South Africa and of these 20 are endemic. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, species are now disappearing from our planet at an alarming rate, and studies have shown that this is mostly driven by human activities.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Recent surveys in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, countries long thought to be strongholds for the wattled crane, show that the global population is only half of what has been reported in recent years.- By Sap, Times Live

Whooping cranes returning in record numbers

State and federal wildlife officials say they expect as many as 290 cranes to make the trip from their nesting grounds in Canada — an extraordinary comeback two years after the deadliest winter on record for the critically endangered bird. - By Matthew Tresaugue - Houston Chronicle

Power lines 'invisible' to birds

Birds fly into power lines because they have "blind spots" in their field of vision, according to new research. - By Ella Davies, Earth News reporter