Welcome to Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR
Check out our Activities and Events Calendar.
Visitor Center Open Tuesday - Saturday, 9am to 3pm, Entry is free.
| November 9 - MSC NWR was featured on Animal Planet On-line! Check out the blog about the cranes! | |||||
| October 30 – News This Week: We brought 10 captive-reared cranes onto the refuge for release to the wild this week. Cranes born in captivity are raised to about 6 months of age and then released at the refuge to join the wild flock of cranes, supplementing the population. | |||||
Six of the cranes released this week were reared in captivity at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in Louisiana. Five of these chicks were what we call "puppet reared", raised by humans wearing special costumes to keep the cranes from imprinting on humans and using puppets to socialize and teach the cranes survival skills. The sixth crane was raised by captive parents. The cranes will be a part of an "acclimated release" process where they are placed into an open-topped pen at the refuge where they will spend 30 days getting accustomed to their new life. The pen allows older, wild cranes to fly in and socialize with the young cranes and keeps them safe from predators. After 30 days, the cranes will be recaptured and a temporary wing restraint will be taken off - giving them the full freedom of flight. Usually, the young cranes will slowly expand their home range as they become familiar with the area, increasing their chances of survival. |
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In addition to those cranes, 4 more cranes were released onto the refuge in a completely different manner. Biologists are continually doing research on the Mississippi sandhill crane populations and how the birds interact with each other, socialize and use their newly learned survival skills in the wild. Cranes brought over from the White Oak Conservation Center were reared by captive parent birds. These birds were released on the refuge in what biologists are calling "direct release". Two of the cranes were released together completely into the wild, without wing restraints or the safety of a temporary pen. These cranes were released near groups of other wild cranes that they will hopefully join and socialize with them. Two other cranes were direct released individually near other groups of cranes. This technique may allow the use of many more sites for release, increasing colonization of newly restored habitats. Biologists are monitoring all 10 of the cranes daily. All of the cranes released this week are now wearing radio transmitters and unique colored leg band combinations to differentiate them. Refuge staff will monitor the young cranes both visually and by listening for their radio signals. Additionally, about 85% of the older cranes on the refuge have colored leg bands and many have radio transmitters - giving us unique opportunities to learn about how individual birds are thriving in Mississippi. To learn more about these cranes, use the links on the left and visit the Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR Visitor Center, open Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 3pm. Entry to the visitor center is free. Pictures below are from the release. Click the thumbnails for larger photos. |
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