From time to time I receive emails about the "whoopers" and this rare bird for North Alabama being scattered throughout over 900 galleries of daily life at Wheeler National Refuge. So, I have pulled many of those photos and placed them in one gallery. Several years ago the Refuge had two "whoopers" and now for this year it has nine. A positive sign for that very special place in North Alabama.


Unlike the semi-domestic cranes of other areas, such as in Florida, of our Country who have learned to co-exist with manmade developments, these whoopers are wild just like the six to seven thousand Sandhill Cranes Wintering at the Refuge. A person is very luckie if they can get at least a 1/4 mile from the Cranes to get a good photograph of them before the birds panic fly. The Whooping Crane is a magnificent bird to observe at WNR.

February 5, 2010 - Latest information on the Whooping Cranes for this year. In Texas/Arkansas there are 263 from Canada; 25 that do not migrate that are in Florida; 167 that are in captivity for ZSoos, study, and breeding; and 119 that fly from Wisconsin to the Southeast. That gives the total to be 574......less the three that were shot in Georgia last month...thus having a total population of 571 known Whooping Cranes. From that 119-3 = 116, 9 were at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge for the Winter. Not a bad showing for this refuge to an increase in population in the last three years.