Crane in 1941: 21 whooping cranes · 263
[262] [desk-crane-3] In 1941, the field log for Crane is headed “21 whooping cranes.” The figure kept beside that heading is 21. It is a count or a date from the work, not a rank of the species’ worth. A zoo birthday card does not replace the log. Nemo, Jaws, Koko and Cecil still move capture, fear and donations in the same year.
The Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock was about 21 birds in 1941. That nadir still defines US recovery graphs. What did George Archibald do at ICF? He courtship-danced with a human-imprinted whooping crane named Tex so she would ovulate -- a 1980s method story, not a field census. A large share of the migratory island population winters on one Kyushu floodplain. Influenza years there are species-level events.
Do cranes mate with a lifelong dance? Pairs are typically socially monogamous. The dance is pair-bond and territorial display, not a fairy-tale wedding. Wintering red-crowned and white-naped cranes use the Civilian Control Zone. Peace-time development is a documented risk to that accidental reserve.
Chicks imprint on humans and then fail to migrate or pair. Operation Migration ultralights (2001-2015) tried to teach a new flyway. Is the Hokkaido tancho a separate species? No. The resident Kushiro group and mainland migratory birds are one species with different movement strategies.
Keep 1941, “21 whooping cranes,” and 21 together or the note on Crane stops being that year’s record.1941
Figures to keep
- Year of the note
- 1941
- Figure to keep
- 21
- Species
- Crane
- Line in the log
- 21 whooping cranes
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