Experiencing Whooping Cranes on the Texas Coast - Coastal Winter Trip 2024
The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is one of the most majestic birds on the planet, and one I had the fortune to see for myself. The Texas gulf-coast is a premiere spot to witness these birds in the wild. In fact, its one of the few places to see them in the world as they remain as an endangered species due to a long history of over-hunting and habitat loss. Luckily the species is recovering due to strict protection and habitat preservation. The habitats found on the Texas gulf-coast serve as wintering grounds for the Whooping Cranes. Indeed, the habitats of the Texas gulf-coast are home to a myriad of species. For this reason I dedicated a three-day trip in February to the region with the goal of getting good looks at the legendary Whooping Crane and seeing the other wonderful species that call the region home. The entire eBird trip report can be seen here.
Our first stop was Goose Island State Park, an excellent state park for fishing and birding. The fields surrounding the famous Big Tree are the most reliable spot to find Whooping Cranes but my girlfriend and I decided to check out the island itself first to get looks at other coastal bird species. The island did not disappoint as there was a great diversity of bird species on or visible from the island such as American Oystercatchers, Long-billed Curlews, Willets, Laughing Gulls, American-white and Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, Ospreys, and more. The diversity of the shapes of these birds reflect their diverse diets and feeding styles. On an oyster bed I saw this in action as a Willet (Tringa semipalmata) plucked a small crab from the sea and swallowed it whole. Willet's unspecialized straight and heavy bill are indicative of their generalist diet that includes a wide-range of prey such as insects, small insects, mollusk, and crustaceans. It was clear that this island, the nearby oyster beds (small islands composed of living and dead oyster shells), and the surrounding bays were a bountiful source of food for the birds. The full list of the bird species seen at the island can be seen here.
To end our first day we decided to visit the famous Big Tree at sundown, this Live Oak tree (Quercus virginiana) is massive and has been alive for centuries, possibly over a thousand years old. While admiring the gentle giant I heard a loud and distinct call in the distance, a call I recognized instantly to be that of a Whooping Crane. Now, this crane is named for its call and though there are many features of this bird befitting for a namesake, I believe the call to have been a good decision. As soon as I recognized the call, I was pulled away and headed to its direction. The cranes foraged in the fleeting light as the golden sun highlighted their silhouette and all I could be is left in awe. I needed to see them in better light, and so we would be back early next morning. The diversity of species did not die when the sun set however, as beneath the full moon a new set of actors entered the stage. From our tent I heard a pair of Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) hoot sweet songs to one another.
We were up early to get to the Big Tree area for sunrise. There were no cranes upon arrival which was no problem as it gave us time to make and eat breakfast. After breakfast, we were surprised by an unusual sight, Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) scavenging upon the washed up corpse of a young Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Other people had stumbled across the dolphin and luckily a couple had reported it. Indeed it was a sad sight but at least the Black Vultures were having breakfast of their own.
We got our first looks at Whooping Cranes, an adult pair and their colt. Young Whooping Cranes are known as colts. Whooping Cranes are monogamous breeders, meaning they mate with one partner for life. These pairs typically lay just two eggs, the second egg mostly serving as a fallback if the first one fails or if resources are abundant enough to support two colts. This explains why the pair we saw had just one colt, as typical for this species, the parents pour their entire efforts into a single colt to ensure breeding success. The young crane was already close to being full-sized but could be distinguished from its parents by cinnamon-colored blotches in its plumage. Colts hatch with a coat cinnamon-colored downy feathers that are gradually replaced by the clean white feathers characteristic of adult cranes. Whooping Cranes reach maturity at about four years of age. It was amazing to see a colt, a sign of this endangered species' inspiring recovery as they continue to breed in the wild. A fact that is also inspiring is that this colt didn't hatch here in the Texas gulf-coast since this habitat only serve as the wintering grounds for this population. In fact, the breeding range for this population can be found in Wood Buffalo National Park, all the way up in Northwestern Canada. Meaning this colt migrated more than 2,000 miles from Canada to Texas before their first birthday.
I was ecstatic with the views, they were exactly the photos I had been hoping for and I was able to leave the cranes to their foraging. Yet better views and photos were in store for me the next time we'd see this species at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The rest of the day we made quick stops at a few close by locations to pick up a few lifers. Our first stop was the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, this is a fantastic spot during the spring to see warblers and other migrants but since it was winter we instead saw many year-round and wintering waterbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl. Its also where you can see an American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) named Boots, but we'd see many more gators later on at the Aransas NWR. Close by is the Port Aransas jetty, where I was hoping to get my lifer Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator). This spot proved to be a success, where there were two mergansers diving and catching food right next to the jetty. Here I got a bonus lifer, a Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), this was my first time seeing a wild sea turtle. We had one more stop left, a small platform within Mustang Island state park where I'd get my lifer Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis). A pair sat on the nesting platform, by far the most beautiful falcon species I have seen. We'd end the day at our campsite at Padre Island National Seashore. Unlike our previous camping spot, we were able to camp right on the shore of the gulf coast.
We were awoken by golden sunlight and the ethereal whistles of Eastern Meadowlarks (Sturnella magna). Our plan for the day was to visit the Aransas NWR but not until after we explored the pristine Padre Island seashore. Despite this being a popular beach, it was unlike other beaches I had been to, it felt very wild with its vegetated dunes and vast shoreline. It didn't just feel wild, the shore was home to wildlife, predominantly wintering shorebirds. Among those shorebirds were two lifers, Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) and Dunlin (Calidris alpina). Both were in their winter non-breeding plumage and allowed me to get surprisingly close. However not nearly as close as the silly-looking and aptly named Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) who was also going for a morning stroll. After the beautiful morning beach stroll we packed up and headed to Aransas NWR but made a quick stop at the John F. Kennedy Causeway to see a lifer rare-bird, Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus). This snow-pale gull is found in the far north but this young gull was way out of its natural range. Nonetheless, its unique appearance and large size, being the second largest gull in the world, made it worth the stop.
We arrived at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Along with Goose Island State Park, this is the best location to see wild Whooping Cranes in Texas. In fact, its a great location to see all sorts of wildlife among the different habitats found on this chunk of pristine Texas coast. From the tidal flats emerging from San Antonio Bay to the live oak forest, and the savannahs and marshes in between, hundreds of species call this refuge home be it year-round or just for the winter. This refuge sports many stops where you can get out and explore these habitats through it's trails, as well as relaxing wildlife drive through the inland habitats. The refuge's marshy tidal flats are critical winter-feeding grounds for Whooping Cranes where they feed on Atlantic Blue Crabs (Callinectes sapidus), a staple of their winter diet. On these tidal flats is where we'd see our first pair of Whooping Cranes on the refuge. The Big Tree boardwalk trail is fantastic spot to walk through the marsh and flats, the habitat here was pristine and rich in food for the masses of birds present. We saw a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) pluck an eel out from the shallow bay. Many Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa) used their disproportionate beaks to probe through the mud.
We'd also do the wildlife drive where we'd see a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) sitting on her nest upon a tall live oak as well as more looks at Whooping Cranes. The previous two days we had seen colossal clouds of smoke loom above the refuge, this was from a controlled burn used to treat the savannahs, preventing trees from growing and allowing the grasses to take hold. In the charred ruins, we'd find another pair of cranes feeding on animals and plant material left behind by the fire. These prescribed burns actually benefit the cranes by providing healthy habitat and feeding opportunities. Although I was satisfied with my photos from Goose Island State Park, I was in for a treat at our next stop, Jones Lake. We walked towards the platform that overlooks the lake and immediately saw another Whooping Crane pair wading in the lake. This pair was far closer than any other cranes we had seen the whole trip. The excitement I felt caused me to fire away, taking hundreds of photos. They came right up to the platform, allowing me to get portrait shots that I'm really proud of. These views and photos were far and above what I had hoped for. This alone made me feel lucky, but knowing this was a rare and endangered species that we could've lost to extinction made that feeling stronger. It's a tragedy that species such as the Carolina Parakeet or the Passenger Pigeon are no longer with us, that they don't have a sanctuary to come home to. That those among us that find joy in seeing and photographing wildlife may never be able to experience these species. Yet, we are so fortunate that the Whooping Crane has sanctuaries like the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to come home to and that we are able to come and spend precious moments viewing and photographing them. I'm so fortunate to have been able to experienced them.
Sources:
https://www.fws.gov/species/whooping-crane-grus-americana
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/willet
https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-05/2023-wintering-whooping-crane-count#:~:text=Whooping%20cranes%20are%20one%20of,usually%20rearing%20only%20one%20chick.
https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/whooper/
https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0013_whooping_crane.pdf
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/aransas/visit-us/trails
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