WHOOPING CRANE MOLTING INTO ADULT PLUMAGE, BOLEN BLUFF TRAIL/BASIN TRAIL,PAYNES PRAIRIE PRESERVE STATE PARK,GAINESVILLE,FLORIDA, 1/17/2021-OUR 1,000TH LIFER

    This Whooping Crane had been reported on ebird.   It was seen from the observation tower on the Basin Trail which is an offshoot of the Bolen Bluff Trail.  The main Bolen Brook trail goes through a forest, while it's offshoot, the Basin Trail goes through the prairie   

   We can ID this Crane as a Whooping Crane that is molting into its full adult plumage as follows:

• Overall white.
• On its chin, the darker brown malar (see first photo) of the juvenile Crane is still there.  This will eventually turn red.
• If you look closely in both photos you can see some of the red cap of the adult crane starting to appear.

     The Whooping Crane is an endangered species.  Because of unregulated hunting and loss of habitat the Whooping Crane was pushed to the brink of extinction by 1941.  There were just 21 wild and two captive Whooping Cranes left.  Conservation efforts have led to limited recovery.  It is estimated that the population now exceeds 800 birds.

   The Whooping Crane is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 1,000.  It took us 6 years to reach this;  we started to seriously bird in January, 2016.