January 13, 2020
Whooping cranes in Illinois? As a former resident of Nebraska, home of the great Sandhill crane migration, I got really excited when I heard that there have been a pair of whoopers observed in Randolph County, IL. I grew up watching the sandhill crane spectacle, and in the process managed a few sighting of whooping cranes over the years. However, its been almost 20 years since I had seen one. So armed with a tip on the location of this pair, I headed out on New Year’s Day in hopes of catching a glimpse of these magnificent and rare birds. I was not disappointed. Buy why is this such a big deal?
Rare Birds
It is believed that there are only between 600 and 700 whooping cranes remaining in the wild. At one point that number was as low as 15, so we are on the upswing. Massive efforts by conservationists to preserve key habitat for whooping cranes helped lead to the success story. Another important factor is the reintroduction of a whooping cranes in non-migratory flocks in both Louisiana and Florida. An even larger success story is the eastern migratory flock of whooping cranes that is a result of 20 years of labor from the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. A link to their website is provided at the bottom of the page, I encourage you to read more about their program. I am sure that the birds I went in search of January 1st are part of this introduced flock.
Kaskaskia Island
Normally specific locations of rare birds are not to be shared on birding list serves and Facebook pages. However, apparently these two birds have been seen over the winter repeatedly and for long lengths of time on Kaskaskia Island the past few years. Very specific notes leading to their location have been posted repeatedly on various listserves and other public websites. So this quest for a whooping crane had been on my radar, and when the MO-Birds list serve had a report and specific location of birds in sight on New Year’s Day I headed out. And just as the observer had noted, I arrived to find two adult whooping cranes wading in a slough several hundred yards from the road. Woohoo! There were whooping cranes in Illinois!
A Great View
I settled in and parked on the side of the gravel road where I spent the afternoon watching the pair of whoopers. They were actively feeding, working their way up the slough. The pair stayed together for the most part, and occasionally flew very short distances. The bright afternoon sun provided excellent viewing conditions. All important field marks were easily noted. This was a far better observation than my previous sightings along the Platte River in Nebraska, as the birds were closer and lingered for much longer. I felt blessed to be able to spend the afternoon with them and my only hope was that they may fly close to me whenever they decided to head off to wherever they roost. I decided I would at least sit it out until the birds left the area just in case.
My patience paid off. Sometime late in the afternoon the birds started walking through the field almost directly towards me. Both whoopers moved quickly for a few minutes, and eventually stopped about 80 to 100 yards away from my vehicle. They stopped and seemed to be stretching and preparing to fly. The birds rested for 10-15 minutes, then launched themselves skyward as they set flight. They flew over the road and then banked parallel to the road, passing very close to me and giving me a great look at both of the birds in flight. Absolutely a successful start to birding 2020.
Other Birds on the ‘Island’
The two whooping cranes in the open farm fields were a magnificent sighting in my book. The lack of other birds was also spectacular in its own right. The fields were practically devoid of birds. I saw a few mourning doves fly by, a few mallards landing in a nearby slough, and a lone American kestrel working the wires. In the distance I saw some snow geese swirling, but nothing else. No flocks of blackbirds, distant hawks or vultures, or even small sparrows or horned larks. I had to stop by the tree lined yards of some of the farms and check out the nearby Middle Mississippi River Wildlife refuge to add a few more birds to my eBird list for the day. At least I was able to find a few whooping cranes in Illinois.
Here is my eBird checklist:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S62877157
Here is the link to the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership:
