Whooping cranes are completing their 2,500-mile journey from Canada and arriving on the Texas coast.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said the first pair of whooping cranes were seen flying toward the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near San Antonio Bay on Nov. 1.
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Arriving from the Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, the birds’ arrival is about 10 days later than in 2022.
“It is always exciting when the first whooping cranes complete their fall migration and arrive in Texas,” Kevin McAbee, the whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a news release. “Flying during the day and resting at night, they have worked hard to reach their winter home in coastal Texas.”
The birds have spent more than a month traveling from the Wood Buffalo National Park and surrounding areas, where they nest. During the migration, they rarely spend more than one day in one place.
They will remain on Texas’ coastal marshes for the summer. Because a dry summer has caused more saline in bays, the birds may seek out freshwater habitats and more inland areas, TPWD states.
Though their populations are slowly rebounding, whooping cranes are still listed as endangered in the U.S.
According to data from January, about 536 whooping cranes, including 88 juveniles, were surveyed at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge over the 2022-2023 winter. In the winter before that, there were about 543 whooping cranes.
McAbee said the number for the 2023-2024 winter is expected to be about the same.
When they were first listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1967, only 50 of the birds existed.
Because the birds have a fragile population, TPWD said bird hunters should take extra precautions.
“The increasingly common use of inland areas by whooping cranes is a concern for conservationists, as these areas overlap with sandhill crane and other waterfowl habitats as well as hunting seasons,” a news release states. “Just because hunters are away from the Texas coast, doesn’t mean the bird in question is not a whooping crane. Cases of mistaken identity can happen, something that can be detrimental to the tallest and rarest species of bird in North America.”
It is also illegal to disturb or harass whooping cranes.
TPWD has the Texas Whooper Watch so the public can report sightings and help track migrations. You can help track them here.