Cranes and Citizen Scientists

Forest County residents are invited to join the 2018 Midwest Crane Count.  Each year in mid-April, over 1,000 Midwest volunteers travel to their local wetlands and favorite birding locations to participate in what is known as the Midwest Crane Count. This annual survey of Sandhill and Whooping Cranes spans over 90 counties in six states of the upper Midwest (Wisconsin and portions of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota).

The primary purposes of the Crane Count are to help monitor the abundance and distribution of cranes in the Upper-Midwest which helps with crane research, as well as introducing people to cranes and their natural environment. In the 1930’s, an estimated 25 pairs of Sandhill Cranes resided in Wisconsin. Seventy years later, the year 2000 Crandon Count tallied more than 13,000 Sandhill Cranes.

Chequamegon/Nicolet National Forest Naturalist Nicole Shutt will provide a presentation on cranes and the crane count monitoring process in the lower level of the Crandon Public Library at 7:00 p.m. on April 10th.  Shutt’s presentation will also discuss the protocols and monitoring sites for the crane count which will take place on Saturday April 14th from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. This year’s Crane Count falls on Citizen Science Day – a day designated to draw attention to the numerous opportunities for every-day folks to contribute valuable scientific information to on-going studies. 

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