Whooping Cranes are special birds that came close to extinction in the 1940s. Now they are successfully breeding in southwestern and south-central Louisiana wetlands, and at least half of their nests are constructed in crawfish ponds. A reintroduction program began in 2011, when 10 young birds were brought to Louisiana from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. Cohorts of young birds have been acclimatized to Louisiana conditions annually (except for 2020) at the White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area, which is where Whooping Cranes last nested in Louisiana in 1945.
The oldest Whooping Cranes in the reintroduction program began nesting attempts several years after they were released. According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), the state’s non-migratory population stands at 81 birds (41 males, 34 females, and…
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BirdWatching (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/August 2023