Whooping Crane

I was very happy to see a pair of Whooping Cranes in Minnesota today!! These birds are the tallest in North America and were once on the brink of extinction - in 1941 only 16 individuals were left. Now there are just over 400 in the wild. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo - they were far out in a marsh.

Here is some information on these particular birds, thanks to Dan Tallman's Blog:

Eve Szyszkoski of the International Crane Foundation Writes -

"Based on the band numbers, these two birds are an adult breeding pair, both four years old. They nested this year near the Necedah NWR but abandoned their nest on May 4. Two eggs were collected (one infertile, one fertile but addled). They have a history of moving into Minnesota in the summer or fall and will most likely begin migration from Minnesota. One was raised and released using the ultra-light release method, and one was released using the direct Autumn Release method. They have been together for about three years now."

How cool!