Have you seen Amethyst, only 1 of 4 whooping cranes in Michigan?

Photo caption: BOLO (Be on the lookout) for Amethyst, one of only four endangered whooping cranes believed to summer in Michigan. Last sighted Nov. 15, 2019. Photo courtesy of local resident and photographer Dave Alsobrooks.

by Patrice Johnson

BOLO (Be on the lookout) for Amethyst, one of only four endangered whooping cranes believed to summer in Michigan. Last fall, on Nov. 15, 2019, local resident and photographer Dave Alsobrooks captured the accompanying image of one of these rare, nearly extinct species on the northwest corner of a small swale on the Smith family farm on Kinsey Road near Brogan Road.

“We believe this was one of only four known to be in Michigan in 2019,” Alsobrooks said.

Large and white, whooping cranes are noted for their whooping call and native to North America, species Grus americana. As the photo depicts, the whooping crane was socializing with sandhill cranes and has a transmitter and color banding on its legs. This tagging allowed Alsobrooks to confirm the bird’s identity from the International Crane Society.

“The bird, nicknamed Amethyst, was identified as Crane 72-17,” Alsobrooks explained.

“Research found the male crane was hatched May 23, 2017,” he added, so Amythest is just over three years old.

The bird, raised by adult whooping cranes, was released into the wild Oct. 6, 2017, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin. Transmitting shows Amethyst traveled to Okeechobee County, Florida where it wintered before returning to Michigan in spring 2018.

Amethyst spent the summer of 2019 in Ingham County. From there it spent the winter of 2018-2019 in Tennessee before again returning to Michigan in the spring of 2019. Transmitting shows it spent most of last summer in Saginaw County.

“Transmitter battery life extends for about two years,” Alsobrooks said.

This writer believes she may have seen Amethyst or one of its brethren in the company of sandhill cranes early spring 2020 in a seasonal pond along Dexter Trail. If you see this bird, please snap a photo and contact SCN at [email protected].

For the full story check out: Http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/class-of-2017/#72-17. Another source of information is the International Crane Foundation.