January-February 2022 • Nebraskaland 33
are responding to land and water
management activities in the Platte
Valley.
In all, the surveys determined that
88 whooping cranes stopped on the
Platte this fall. This established a new
record for the fall, topping the previous
high of 42 in 2019. The top count in
the spring was 120 in 2018. Surveys
conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service located additional whooping
cranes, bringing the total count to 97,
20 percent of the migratory population
and matching the number in the
population in 1987.
"We usually get quite a few more
whoopers that stop in the spring than
in the fall," Jaymes said. "We've had
more individuals stop in the spring,
but this fall is really the anomaly."
Jaymes said the ground observations
can typically identify unique groups
of cranes that make it possible to
get an accurate count. That became
impossible when the birds bunched
up this fall. "Usually, they kind of stay
within their family groups, and this
group just kind of socialized, which
was cool to see," she said.
Dave Baasch, the threatened and
endangered species specialist with the
Crane Trust, said the high daily counts
of whooping cranes this fall were due
to several factors lining up. Weather
conditions delayed the migration and
held birds in Saskatchewan. When
conditions were favorable, many of
them made it to the Platte River at
once, and then strong southerly winds
kept the birds here.
"It's never happened before, and it's
possible that it could happen again,
but not highly likely," Baasch said.
The whooping crane was one of
the first species to gain protection
under the Endangered Species Act in
1970. The migratory population that
passes through Nebraska twice each
year had dipped to just 18 individuals
in 1945, decimated by hunting and
the loss of nesting habitat. The bird
had never been abundant due in part
to its delayed reproductive maturity
and a reproduction rate of less than
one chick annually. A record number
of nests were observed in Canada
this summer, and Baasch said the
population could top 520 individuals
when surveys are completed in Texas
this winter.
A second migratory flock has been
established that moves between
Wisconsin, part of its historic nesting
range that extended across the north-
central U.S. into central Alberta, and
Florida. A nonmigratory flock was
restored in Louisiana. Between the
three wild populations and captive
birds, there are just 800 whooping
cranes in the world.
While the birds don't always stop,
the big bend reach of the Platte River
in central Nebraska is one of four areas
