Bears, Birds & Conservation; Part 2 - Whooping Cranes in Minnesota

Birding

While I was spending 16 hours a day working on the research bear issue, answering all of your e-mails, and answering questions on the "Protect Minnesota's Research Bears" Facebook page, which now has over 1000 "likes" on it, and on the "Lily the Black Bear" page,which now has over 131,000 "likes" on it, I forgot to check in on the Minnesota Birding List on the Internet, to see what interesting birds were being seen in Minnesota, and if they were close enough to look for and photograph. So, I missed the post that there were two Whooping Cranes just west of Dennison, which is about 6 miles from our old farm, and 30 miles from where we live in Inver Grove Heights. We drove down there on Tuesday, but could not find the birds. I completely missed the chance to see one of the rarest birds in the world (there are only about 200 in existence). Darn, Darn, Darn. I guess I will have to take a trip to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin to see the summering range of the Whooping Cranes from Florida.

I've already contacted the International Crane Institute in Baraboo,WI, and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, and made arrangements to meet someone at both places, and view the cranes, get some photos, and garner information for a story about Whooping Cranes and cranes in general.

While I was on the Minnesota Birding List, I noted that someone mentioned that one of Whooping Crane had a tracking device on it. But, when I inquired about it at the National Crane Institute, they seemed to know nothing about it. So, we may not be able to track the birds in the case that they are still in Minnesota. In fact, they asked that if I located the birds, I contact them.

And, while I was slaving away over a smoking hot computer, and a broken keyboard, my wife was enjoying herself with her relatives near Willmar, Minnesota, on a farm, where she saw FOY (first of the Year) birds Indigo Bunting and, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Bullocks Oriole (a Lifetime First), plus Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole, Blue Jay, BC Chickadee, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, and at a marsh on Highway 12 she saw her new favorite bird, a Yellow-headed Blackbird, plus a Great Blue Heron and about 20 Great White Egrets. This brings the family's Statewide Bird Species Sighting Total to 72.

Conservation

I also noted that someone on the Minnesota Birding List asked what a presentation by Dr. Jonathan Foley, University of Minnesota, on the subject of "Will We Have to Choose Between Meat and a Healthy Planet?" had to do with birding. Having been banned from the Minnesota Birding List website for talking about conservation, and knowing how much money hunters contribute to habitat conservation, it was no surprise to me that a birder did not know the answer to the question. For some reason some birder seem to be narrow-minded or un-informed, in this day and age of internet information, and revealing television programs, about the need to protect eco-systems and watersheds, because the relative health of them affects every single organism that uses that eco-system or watershed. What affects farming practices (such as, draining vernal pools, wetlands and marginal farmland acres), or the ues of pesticides, inseticides,and fertilizer, affects that habitat for use by birds, insects, fish, and invertebrates, and thus affects raptors, predators and other large animals. It is all tied together. Trust me, food production practices affect bird habitat, bird health, bird survival and bird populations.

Dr.Foley and his colleagues have been studying how to double food production, cut greenhouse gases by 80 percent, and stop loss of biodiversity, pollution, and permanent drawdowns of aquifers. "What we really want is healthy food that people can afford that doesn't hurt the environment. Show me a subsidy right now that rewards that. Our economy needs to change a little bit so farmers can make a decent living doing the right things, which is feeding the world and being stewards of the environment."

The Bear Facts

Between 1930 and 2010, there were fewer than 35 reported black bear attacks on human beings, and six of those were by tame or semi-tame bears. Black bears are not out to eat or attack humans, unless they feel threatened, or they mistake a human for prey.

Forage Patterns

Black bears are omnivorous, eating both plants and animals. Researchers have found that more than 75% of their diet consists of vegetable matter including greens, berries, flowers, grasses, herbs, roots, and nuts. The rest of of their dietconsists of animal matter such as carrion, fish, insects, mice, voles, ground squirrels, fawns and elk calves, eggs,and any mammal they can catch. They are particularly fond of grubs, earthworms, and ants found in decaying logs. They also take advantage of human foods and garbage, such as at dumps.

In the spring, black bears eat mostly of plants, from emerging grasses and sedges to horsetail and various forbs (flowering plants). In the summer bears may add ants, bees, grubs, and a host of late emerging plants to their diets. During late summer and fall, bears generaly shift their forage patterns to tree fruits, berries, nuts and agricultural crops, but they still consume a variety of native plants.

During late summer and early fall, all bears need to gain as much weight as possible, to get them through the long winter, and the sows need to putonweight to provide milk for the cubs. By eating locally available nut crops, berries, etc., black bears normally gain a lot of weight. They may gain as much as 30 pounds per week. In order to do this, they often forageup to 20 hours per day, this eating pattern is refered to as"hyperphagia".

Typically, a small proportion of the black bear's annual diet is made up of animal matter, including insects, mice, voles, ground squirrels, fawns and elk calves, eggs, carrion (animal carcasses), and fish, but their availability varies and is often unpredictable. An occasional bear may take livestock.

God bless and enjoy our Great Outdoors,

T.R.Michels