It was relatively recently that I saw my first Sandhill crane, at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary near Ladner, BC. Since then, we seem to see Sandhill cranes “everywhere”: Louisiana, Northern Ontario, Manitoulin Island, Southern Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama……. Additionally, we have been fortunate to see whooping cranes in the wild, for the last four consecutive years in Kentucky, Indiana and Alabama. While Sandhill cranes are increasing in numbers, that is not really the case for whooping cranes, which number about 100 in the wild in Eastern North America. While great work is being done to monitor, track and support the whooping cranes, it seems that a number of them are shot each year (Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas).
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