Best Places to See the Odd Bird
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UNUSUAL BIRDS : current situation and conflicts
FOR PUFFINS, CRANES, Prairie Chicken, Dancing Grouse, Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and More
VIEWING TIPS
Dusk and dawn are the best times to see most animals. It's their rush hour, when they're either getting up and going to find food or going to bed.
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BEST PLACES TO SEE THESE BIRDS
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Whooping Cranes at the Aransas NWR
The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is the winter home to the only wild flock of whooping cranes left. About 230 whooping cranes spend their summers in Wood Buffalo National Park in which straddles Alberta and the Northwest Territories, the spend October to May in Texas. Whooping cranes are the rarest crane and about the biggest: five feet tall, with a wingspan of eight feet. Because of hunting, feather and egg collecting and loss of habitat, the species was down to just 20 individuals by the 1940s. The USGS and Fish and Wildlife Service have been breeding the birds in captivity and introducing a second flock that winters in Florida and summers in Wisconsin. Operation Migration teaches these birds the route that they would normally learn from their parents by leading them with an ultralight aircraft.
You can see one whooping crane family from the Observation Tower near Mustang Lake. To see more you'll need to take a boat tour from Rockport. The Refuge is between Austwell and and Rockport / Fulton. It's on FM 2040 off FM 774 . Wildlife Center (361) 286-3559 Boat Tours: Pisces Charters – (800) 245-9324 The Skimmer – (877) 892-4737 Wharf Cat – (800) 782-2473 |
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Prairie Chickens Taylor Ranch
The one public "lek" to view prairie chickens is at the Taylor Ranch, near Grand Island, Nebraska. Birders come for the raucous mating displays in March through May. Nebraska Birding Trails advises: "Active prairie-chicken leks can be located by driving this area around sunrise and stopping every few hundred yards or so to listen for their "booming" from mid-March into May." To reach Taylor Ranch, take Interstate-80 exit No. 311, drive north on the Highway 281 for 9 1/2 miles then go left (west) on Highway 2 for almost four miles then right (north) on 60th Road until you reach a stop sign (about 2 1/2 miles). Then turn left (west) on One R Road and go one mile. Stop there, pull over to the right side and watch the hills directly north. +41° 0' 20.16", -98° 28' 5.52" |
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Eastern Egg Rock Puffins
Puffins were down to one pair in Maine before conservation efforts, including Stephen Kress' Puffin Project, stepped in to restore the population. Now 800-some birds live on four islands. The biggest population is on Machias Island, but the closest to where most people visit Maine is Eastern Egg Rock, which houses about 150 puffins. Summer boat tours visit the birds, but don't go ashore.
From New Harbor Hardy Boat (800)-2-PUFFIN From Boothbay Harbor Cap'n Fish (207) 633-3244 |
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Machias Island Puffins
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Puffins were down to one pair in Maine before conservation efforts, including Stephen Kress' Puffin Project, stepped in to restore the population. Now 800-some birds live on four islands. The biggest population is on Machias Island. Others are on Eastern Egg Rock, Seal Island NWR and Matinicus Rock. Summer boat tours visit the birds, seldom going ashore. Norton tours the island from, Jonesport, (207) 497-5933 Bold Coast leaves from Cutler, ME (207) 259-4484 Map » |
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International Crane Center
The International Crane Foundation is the only place in the world where you can see all 15 species of cranes, including the extremely rare Whooping Crane. Since 1976 they've organized the Annual Midwest Sandhill Crane Count.
The center directly helps crane populations with captive breeding and reintroduction programs. The ICF also supports crane research, promotes education and protects crane ecosystems. Guided tours are 10, 1, and 3--every day in the summer and on weekends for the two months before and after summer. E11376 Shady Lane Rd (Just east of Route 12), Baraboo, WI (608) 356-9462 |
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Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, long thought extinct, may be alive in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. Of course, no one knows exactly where it may be living in the refuge--the hunt is still on for stronger proof it exists--so the map placemark is approximate. The wildlife service reports that it is concentrating the search in Rex Hancock Black Swamp Wildlife Management Area, Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Dagmar Wildlife Management Area, Wattensaw Wildlife Management Area, and White River National Wildlife Refuge. Ivory-billed Woodpecker recovery: contact Laurie Fenwood at (404)679-4016 Refuge 870-347-2614 The refuge is scattered over a wide area northeast of Little Rock. The main office is in Dixie, AR on Hwy 33, 16 miles south of Augusta, AR. |
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Rowe Sanctuary Sandhill Crane Migration
Each spring half a million Sandhill Cranes stop over in Nebraska for a month on the Platte River between Kearney and Grand Island. They fatten up on discarded corn on their way up to Canada. The premiere viewing site is Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary outside of Kearney. Reservations (available starting at the beginning of the year) are required for the dawn and dusk viewings March-April.
The Nebraska Game Commission lists other sites, including the Ft. Kearney Historic Site down the road. Plenty of guides offer tours, including Elderhostel. 44450 Elm Island Rd., Gibbon, NE (308) 468-5282Map » |
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Baptist Hospital Parrots
The trees in the ponds near the Baptist Hospital are home to four species of parrots: Monk and Mitred Parrots and White-winged and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, according to TropicalAudubon.com. Map » |
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Berkshire Bird Paradise
Berkshire Bird Paradise is one of the country's biggest bird sanctuaries. More than 2,000 birds (100 species) live here and lots of them are the big ones everyone wants to see: bald and golden eagles; many kinds of large hawks; exotic pheasants; former pet songbirds; barnyard refugees; black swans.
43 Red Pond Rd., Petersburgh, NY (518) 279-3801 Peter Dubacher, Director |
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Animal Ark Sanctuary
The Animal Ark Sanctuary takes in native and exotic animals that don't have the skills or physical ability to survive in the wild. Residents include black bears, wolves, foxes, owls and many big cats (cheetah, bobcat, tiger, lynx, leopard).
Map »1265 Deerlodge Rd., Reno, NV (775) 970-3111 |
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Ocracoke Pelicans
Ocracoke Island has brown pelicans. You can see them on the ferry over from Hatteras Island or at the seafood company on Ocracoke sound, where they get extra fish. |
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San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary
The Sea & Sage Audubon Society leads field trips in spring to band owls and hawks at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary.
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