The Kissinger Wildlife Management Area, located north of Fairfield, Nebraska, has been temporarily closed due to two whooping cranes that are migrating through the area.
When endangered whooping cranes establish temporary residence on land that the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission owns or manages, the closure is a standard operating procedure for the organization.
The agency stated in a press release on Wednesday that the closure would be lifted as soon as the cranes leave the area.
Alicia Hardin, a wildlife division administrator for the commission, said that the purpose of this temporary closure is to safeguard whooping cranes and prevent the public from unintentionally disturbing or causing harm to the birds, which is against federal and state law.
Southeast of Grand Island, in Clay County, Kissinger WMA is located about a mile north of Fairfield.
Endangered Species
The Nebraska Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act and the federal Endangered Species Act both protect whooping cranes.
Whooping cranes and other protected species can be killed, taken into possession of, or bothered in exchange for fines of up to $50,000, up to one year in jail, or both, according to Nebraska Examiner.
There are currently fewer than 600 whooping cranes in the wild.
The 5-foot-tall, brilliant-white birds travel through Nebraska every spring and fall on their way between breeding grounds in northern Alberta and wintering grounds along the Texas coast.
According to the commission, nearby pumped wetlands offer an alternative for duck and goose hunters, 3KMTV News Now Omaha reports.
Read also: Snake Road to be Closed for Biannual Migration Period in Illinois
Whooping Crane
The Whooping Crane has snowy white plumage, bugling call, crimson cap, and graceful courtship dance.
It is one of the most impressive, as well as the tallest bird in North America.
According to All About Birds, it is also one of the rarest birds, demonstrating the perseverance and innovation of conservation biologists.
Size. The whooping crane, which weighs 15 pounds and can grow to a height of about 5 feet, has a wingspan that exceeds 7 feet. The bird's trachea, which is 5 feet long and coils into its sternum to enable loud, far-reaching calls over the marsh, is also 5 feet long.
The single-note guard call or the courtship duet of the whooping crane are likely where it gets its name.
Movement. The Whooping Crane has a graceful and dignified gait. Its courtship dance is a display of head-pumping, wing-sweeping, leaping, and kicking.
Decline. There were only 21 remaining Whooping Cranes in 1941; 15 of them were migrants traveling between Canada and Texas, and the others spent the entire year in Louisiana.
The Louisiana population vanished, and all 600 of today's Whooping Cranes are descended from the small flock that lays its eggs in Texas.
Around 440 were found in the wild and 160 are currently in captivity.
The flock of whooping cranes that naturally breeds in Canada and spends the winters in Texas is the only self-sustaining population of these birds.
With the assistance of captive breeding programs, three reintroduced populations are present.
One of these is migratory; scientists train young cranes to travel between their breeding grounds in Wisconsin and their Florida wintering grounds using ultralight aircraft.
Record Holder. The oldest Whooping Crane ever found was at least 28 years, and 4 months old when it was discovered in Saskatchewan in 2005.
It had been banded in the Northwest Territories in 1977.
Related article: Experience Wins: Young Cranes Follow Elders in Migration Pattern Changes
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