Day trip: Whooping Cranes return to Indiana

Whooping cranes are back in Indiana.

The first two whooping cranes arrived in Indiana at the end of September, a fairly early arrival date, according to the Whooping Crane Outreach Program. The first to arrive were a pair identified as 18-03, a male, and 36-09, a female.

More than half the population of Eastern migratory whooping cranes spend part or all of the winter in Indiana, according to Danielle Williams of the International Crane Foundation.

They, along with the more abundant sandhill cranes, can easily be seen through the winter at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in Medaryville and Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area in Linton, Williams said.

"Indiana provides crucial habitat for this extremely rare bird," she said.

The whooping crane was on the edge of extinction with around 20 individual birds remaining in the 1940s. Today they are considered a conservation success story with about 850 birds. Named for their loud and distinctive calls, whooping cranes once lived throughout much of North America.

The International Crane Foundation, working with other member organizations in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, has been instrumental in conservation efforts in the crane's Eastern flyway, from Wisconsin to Florida.

For information about the whooping crane, visit www.savingcranes.org.