Whooping Crane Forced Renesting to Support Recovery

This is a notice of intent to award a single source grant to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh without competition under justification 505DM 2.14.B. 1 and 4. Competition for the award is not practical as University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has played an instrumental role in the development of the three-year pilot study leading up to this proposed full implementation of forced renesting. The knowledge of the habitats and expertise in understanding the behavioral impacts of captive rearing make them uniquely qualified to accomplish this work. We propose to implement forced re-nesting of all whooping crane nests, and develop parent-rearing as an additional release method to introducing whooping cranes with behavioral characteristics that will promote survival and reproduction. These actions will aid in the recovery of the Louisiana and Eastern Migratory Populations of Whooping Crane. A three-year study has shown that there is a greater likelihood of successful nesting and fledging in Wisconsin by implementing a program of forcing birds to re-nest and raise offspring later in the season. An ancillary benefit of this is the first clutch eggs collected can supplement the captive release of whooping cranes into the Louisiana non-migratory population or used within captive facilities. The eggs from the wild birds historically have a higher fertility rate than those from captive breeding birds, insuring a supply of eggs for reintroduction through costume rearing or adoption.