Chasing the Ghost Birds
Saving swans and cranes from extinction

A book by David Sakrison

The Return of the Whoopers, Sibes and Trumpeters: Stepping Back from the Brink

Published by the International Crane Foundation, 2007.

When I think of great North American conservation success stories, a few come to mind: the recovery of the Peregrine Falcon throughout Canada, the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, or the growing numbers of Piping Plovers in the Great Lakes region. 

But the story of the Whooping Crane is perhaps the most well known case of a species being brought back from the brink.

This beautiful, majestic and, by many accounts, not terribly bright bird is the tallest in North America and one of the oldest birds in the world. It survived millions of years of planetary change, only to become gravely endangered after a few hundred years of European settlement in North America. By 1941, there were only 21 “whoopers” left on Earth.

David Sakrison’s book, Chasing the Ghost Birds: Saving Swans and Cranes from Extinction, recounts the international efforts to save the Whooping Crane, as well as two other bird species, the Siberian Crane and the Trumpeter Swan.

Biologists, conservationists and volunteer bird enthusiasts have worked for years to painstakingly re-establish these species within their historic ranges (and controversially, within some areas that they may never have been), and their stories are told in great detail in Sakrison’s book.

Sakrison devotes a third of his book to each bird, the Trumpeter, Sibe and Whooper. He follows the scientists into the isolated reaches of the Canadian, Alaskan and Russian wilderness in search of wild nesting sites, where eggs are plucked and flown to captive breeding sites primarily in the U.S. There, the hatchlings are raised as wild birds, in some cases taught to migrate, and then released into the wild. 

Sakrison’s account is packed with curious and often amusing anecdotes.  Perhaps my favourites are biologist Randy Jurewicz’s encounter with a bull moose while stranded on an Alaskan island, and avian expert Sumner Matteson’s nude swim out to a secluded swan nest to collect an egg, a pencil in one hand and a Ziploc bag in the other.

One has to admire the dedication of these men and women, who go to extraordinary lengths to bring a species back from near-extinction, literally one bird at a time. Innumerable small defeats – transporting an egg halfway around the world only to find it unfertilized, or leading a young bird on a continent-wide migration only to have it killed by a bobcat – do not stop these conservationists from soldiering on.

I confess to shaking my head in wonder, yet also with respect, at the lengths to which George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, and others will go to tend to a single egg, find a single nest in the Siberian or Canadian wilderness, or encourage a single pair of birds to mate. Winner of Nature Canada’s Douglas H. Pimlott Award this year, Archibald actually moved into the pen of a female whooper named Tex each spring for four years beginning in 1976, spending every day with her, from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. Archibald would gather earthworms with Tex, build nests, and perform the mating dance with her until she was at last ready to be artificially inseminated. It wasn’t until Archibald returned a fifth time in 1982 (after allowing other ornithologists to try their luck in 1980 and 1981) that Tex at last produced a healthy chick named Gee Whiz. That is dedication!

(Archibald’s seven-year “romance” with Tex was well publicized at the time, landing Archibald on the Tonight Show. Gee Whiz went on to sire 14 Whooping Cranes.)

Aircraft factor heavily in Sakrison’s narrative. Indeed, air travel appeared to be the lynchpin of successful breeding efforts for all three bird species. Conservation-minded philanthropists like Terry and Mary Kohler donated their aircraft, and even personally piloted the biologists and their precious cargo of eggs around the world, from wild nesting sites to breeding facilities in the United States. It’s difficult to imagine how these conservation efforts could have succeeded without them.

However, at times, the story of the birds is somewhat overshadowed by the author’s clear fascination with aviation (Sakrison is also a pilot.) My interest waned a little with talk of instrument panels and air traffic procedures, and I was grateful whenever the focus returned to the swans and cranes. I also leave it to others to decide whether the environmental damage jet travel incurs is acceptable when saving a species from extinction. 

Setting that troublesome debate aside, it is gratifying to read about conservation efforts that are in fact working. The world’s population of Trumpeter Swans is 30,000 and growing. Whooper numbers are growing too, slowly. There were 498 Whooping Cranes at last count, most of which make up the only truly wild population of whoopers in the world at Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories.

The future of the Siberian Crane is still very much in doubt. Pressure on populations in the former Soviet republics and China is only going to grow. Twelve nations are involved in joint research and conservation efforts but sadly, the number of Sibes continues to fall. This has in no way eroded the commitment of Archibald and the other conservationists working toward their recovery.

I should note that this book focuses mainly on US-led conservation efforts. Here are a few resources with information about Canadian efforts:

• Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Ontario has been doing trumpeter swan recovery since 1988. There are now estimated to be 1,000 trumpeters in Ontario, including 131 breeding pairs. There were once fewer than two dozen pairs in all of Canada.
• The Comox Valley Naturalists Society in BC does trumpeter swan counts.
• Friends of Saskatoon Island (Provincial Park) hold a festival to celebrate the annual return of the trumpeter swans. 
• The Calgary Zoo is the only captive breeding site for Whooping Cranes in Canada.
• The International Whooping Crane Recovery Team is a partnership between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service aimed at protecting the Wood Buffalo/Aransas natural flock and establishing two additional flocks.
• Operation Migration is an Ontario-based charity that uses ultralight planes to lead whooping cranes along their migration routes.

Chasing the Ghost Birds is available from the International Crane Foundation and from the author at www.ChasingtheGhostBirds.com.

Chris Sutton is a Nature Canada staff member.