Whopping Cranes

These cranes are endangered. Only about 600 exist - 400 of them are in the wild. Of those, 300 are in the only naturally migrating flock which is west of the Mississippi and 100 are captive born that are being released into the wild in hopes of establishing another migrating flock east of the Mississippi River. Thirty four of the released birds have been wintering in Alabama, 12 to 14 of them at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Decatur, Alabama where this photo was taken. The birds were quite far away not much more than a white speck to the native eye. However, if I really blow the image up, though blurred, I can see some of the leg bands. Each crane has a distinctively colored band. All the eastern cranes have life histories on the internet. When I have time I will try to find the ones I photo'd. (IMG_7691)