First description of a Bald Eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) attempting depredation on an adult Whooping Crane ( Grus americana ) of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population

• Main Authors: Rabbe, Matthew R., Caven, Andrew J., Wiese, Joshua D.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2019
• Subjects: Canada; Refugio; Wood Buffalo; Wood Buffalo National Park
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mwnan/vol11/iss1/3; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/mwnan/article/1097/viewcontent/11.3_Rabbe_Note__450_dpi.pdf

Twice annually, the last remaining wild and self-sustaining migratory population of Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) migrates through central Nebraska on its approximately 3900-km journey between Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf Coast of Texas and Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada. On 27 March 2018, a juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was observed attacking a Whooping Crane on the Loup River near Rockville, Nebraska. The encounter, documented by a private landowner, was forwarded to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the decades-long citizen-science effort undertaken to track and record public sightings of Whooping Cranes during migration. Crane species have few avian predators, and observations of depredations upon these crane species are rare. The Whooping Crane fended off the Bald Eagle, utilizing a “jump-rake” defense; neither species appeared harmed by the clearly aggressive interaction. The episode was reflective of recent observations of Bald Eagles depredating Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River during the spring migration. To our knowledge, this is the first description in scientific literature of a Bald Eagle attacking a Whooping Crane from the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population.Dos veces al año, la población migratoria remanente de grullas trompeteras (Grus americana) salvajes y autosuficientes migra por el centro de Nebraska, en un viaje de aproximadamente 3900 km entre el Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Aransas (en la costa del golfo de Texas) y el Parque Nacional Wood Buffalo (Alberta, Canadá). El 27 de marzo de 2018, se observó a un águila calva joven (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) atacando a una grulla trompetera en el río Loup cerca de Rockville, Nebraska. El encuentro, documentado por un vecino de la zona, fue enviado al Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de los EE.UU. como parte de una labor científica realizada durante décadas por ciudadanos comunes cuyo objetivo es el de rastrear y registrar avistamientos públicos de grullas trompeteras durante sus ...