Festival of the Cranes

Winter is the time to see tens of thousands of birds at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. Each year 60,000 ducks, 20,000 sandhill cranes, and about 30 whooping cranes spend the winter at the refuge in Decatur, Alabama. This is a great opportunity to see one of the rarest birds in North America, the endangered whooping crane.

                                        Thousands of birds make a lot of noise!

In the mid-1800’s there were 700-1500 whooping cranes in North America. By the 1940’s, the migratory population had dropped to about 15 birds, due to habitat loss and hunting. Thanks to protection by the Endangered Species Act, captive breeding and reintroduction programs, and other efforts by government and non-profit agencies, there are now about 800 whooping cranes. The eastern flock consists of 101 individuals; who migrate from Wisconsin to to Florida and some surrounding states. This flock began in 2001 with captive-bred chicks raised by costumed humans using crane puppets, and they were trained to follow an ultralight airplane on their first fall migration, as portrayed in the movie “Fly Away Home.” The birds that winter in Alabama are part of this eastern flock.

In January the refuge hosts the annual 2-day Festival of the Cranes. This free festival includes birding workshops, nature walks, children's activities, speakers (previous years have included “Teddy Roosevelt” and “John James Audubon”) and, of course, viewing the cranes and other waterfowl (from the shore of the Tennessee River and from the indoor observation center). Off-site activities include the Southeastern Raptor Center's birds of prey presentations at the Princess Theater and art exhibits at the Alabama Center for the Arts and the Carnegie Visual Arts Center. This year will also include “A Celebration of Flight” presented by IBEX Puppetry at the Princess Theater and a pre-event screening of Rhett Turner’s documentary “Journey of the Whooping Crane” at the Alabama Center for the Arts.

The visitor center at the refuge has some nice permanent exhibits.

The observation center has microphones that pick up the outdoor sounds.

The top floor of the observation center (on a very rainy day)

Sandhill cranes viewed from the observation center

Whooping crane and sandhill crane

Whooping Crane #12-02 hatched on May 15, 2002 at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. He joined the eastern flock and fathered 3 chicks over the years. He died of disease in 2016.

Sandhill Crane

Joe Weigand as President Teddy Roosevelt

The whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America (5 feet tall with a wingspan of 7 feet). This one is a bit taller than most!

Art on display at the Alabama Center for the Arts

The whooping cranes start arriving in Alabama in mid-November and leave in late February.

Any time of the year, my favorite things to do at the refuge are watching the birds from the observation center, looking at the displays in the visitor center, and strolling through the Cypress Trail.

Discovering Alabama has an episode about the cranes at the Wheeler Refuge.