Attention Wisconsin and Illinois Craniacs! You are invited to two inspiring events on May 21 and 22 with author and naturalist Scott Weidensaul as we celebrate one of nature’s most breathtaking phenomena—migration. Follow the links on our bio to register for each event.
✅ First, join us for a free evening presentation on Thursday, May 21, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum Visitor Center. Scott will share insights from his latest book, “The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet,” as he takes us on a journey across flyways and continents to explore the remarkable lives of migratory birds.
✅ Second, the following morning, Friday, May 22, Scott and International Crane Foundation staff will lead an exclusive birding walk at our headquarters in Baraboo, Wis., beginning at 9 a.m.
Entry to the Crane Discovery Center is required to participate, or the walk is free for International Crane Foundation members. If needed, you may purchase admission at the George Archibald Welcome Center upon arrival.
The May 21 presentation is co-presented by @illinoisaudubonsociety
📸 Sandhill Cranes take flight over the Platte River in Nebraska. Ryan Michalesko/International Crane Foundation
#scottwidensaul #birding #migration #conservation #getoutdoors #savingcranes
Join us Saturday, June 20, from 4 to 7 p.m. for An Evening with the Cranes at our global headquarters in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Sample local food, craft beer, and wine while you meet our local and regional staff and, of course, cranes!
Purchase tickets at the link in bio ➡️
And special thanks to our first 2026 Unison Caller sponsor @wbumiddleton !
📸 Hannah Petrilli/International Crane Foundation
#ewtc2026 #datenight #makeadifference #cranediscoverycenter #savingcranes
This #EndangeredSpeciesDay, we're recognizing that just because a species is endangered, doesn't mean all hope is lost. From science-based conservation to governmental policy to local habitat protections, we all can bring these species back from the brink of extinction.
Saving cranes means saving wetlands, grasslands, and the delicate balance of life they support.
Follow the link in our bio for ways you can support cranes this Endangered Species Day.
#savingcranes #cranes #endangeredspecies #whoopingcrane #greycrownedcrane #siberiancrane #conservation
Today is Endangered Species Day. Historically, there were over 10,000 whooping cranes traversed the Great Plains, a region that stretched from northern Canada to central Mexico and across the central United States.
Due to habitat loss and unregulated hunting, they were nearly driven to extinction, with a staggering low of 15 wild birds in the 1940s. Critical habitat to their migration, wintering, and nesting grounds continues to fragment and shrink.
However, thanks to dedicated conservation efforts by many, their population is rising. Currently, there are over 500 individuals in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population, a number that continues to rise. There are over 800 whooping cranes in the world; from cranes in human care, migratory, and non-migratory populations.
To raise awareness for whooping cranes and the habitats they rely on, photographer Mike Forsberg and ecologist Dr. Andy Caven are pedaling the Whooper Highway, the flyway that whooping cranes, and hundreds of other migratory species, use to travel to and from their breeding and wintering grounds. Mike and Andy will complete the 2,500-mile ride in central Saskatchewan at the end of June. By documenting the Central Flyway, they aim to highlight the habitats, communities, and species that call this narrow, yet critical corridor, home.
Want to support this trip, outreach and education efforts, or crane conservation? If you give in May, your donation will be matched by our generous donors, Diane Crookham-Johnson and another crane lover, for up to $20,000! Click the link in our bio to make a difference.
#endangeredspecies #plattebasintimelapse #whoopingcranes #conservation #WhooperHighway
Job alert! We are seeking a strategic and collaborative Grants Officer to help our Africa Programs advance a future where cranes, people, and natural ecosystems thrive together. The deadline for applications is May 24. Learn more at the link in bio 🔗
The pedaling has begun! 🚴
Today, Mike Forsberg and Andy Caven will start their 50-day, 2,500-mile bike ride through the heart of the Great Plains. Inspired by the whooping crane, the rarest bird in North America, Mike and Andy aim to physically feel the distance that whooping cranes, as well as hundreds of other migratory species, travel to and from their nesting and wintering grounds. By documenting the route, we hope to illustrate the habitats, threats, and communities these species navigate, and to experience migration like never before.
It’s not too late to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime trip! If you are interested in biking with Mike and Andy, meeting them along the route, or virtually following along, follow us on social media and head to the link in our bio to learn how you can join the journey.
#WhooperHighway #WhooperHwy #longlivecranes
Happy Mother's Day to one of the most dedicated mothers we know.
Crane mothers — and fathers — share incubation for on average one month, never straying far from the nest. When the chicks hatch, they dote on their offspring and, in the fall, guide them through migration routes passed down across generations.
Ten of the world's 15 crane species are threatened. This Mother's Day, we celebrate every crane mom raising the next generation against the odds.
#happymothersday #family #dedication #conservation #savingcranes
✨ Make a difference this World Migratory Bird Day by doubling your donation to Pedaling the Whooper Highway! If you give through the end of May, your donation will be matched by our generous donors, Diane Crookham-Johnson and another crane lover, for up to $20,000. Give today at the link in bio 🔗
Starting this Monday, May 11, Conservation photographer Mike Forsberg and our Central Flyway Program Director, Dr. Andy Caven, will begin a two-month journey on the Texas Gulf Coast to central Saskatchewan. They will bike 2,500 miles through the heart of the Great Plains–following an ancient migration of one of the rarest birds in the world, the Whooping Crane.
Mike and Andy invite you to be part of the journey—bike with them, meet them along the route, or support the effort through a donation.
Your donation will support Platte Basin Timelapse and the International Crane Foundation for the bike trip, other regional outreach and education efforts, and Whooping Crane conservation in the Central Flyway.
📸 Whooping Cranes migrating through Ward County, Nebraska. Photo by David Schultz
#worldmigratorybirdday #whooperhighway #whooperhwy #migration #whoopingcrane #endangered #savingcranes
Happy 100th Birthday to Sir David Attenborough!
In June 1997, Attenborough and his crew spent the better half of a week at the International Crane Foundation as part of @bbc "The Life of Birds."
"Cranes are magnificent dancers, international travelers, and great ambassadors for conservation worldwide. What birds could be more deserving of our help and protection?"-Sir David Attenborough
Thank you, Sir David Attenborough, for all you've done for crane conservation and our planet!
#savingcranes #cranes #davidattenborough #attenboroughat100 #craneconservation #wildlifeconservation
Say hello to our two intrepid conservationists as they gear up to embark on a 2,500-mile bike ride on Monday, May 11!
Mike Forsberg is a conservation photographer, a lifelong Nebraskan, and co-founder of Platte Basin Timelapse. Andy Caven is the International Crane Foundation’s Director of Central Flyway Programs and a dedicated habitat ecologist. Together, they will bike for two months, following the whooping crane migratory route and experiencing migration like never before.
“We’re hoping to not just see this, but feel it– feel the miles between these patches just like the monarch butterfly, or a greater yellowlegs, or a whooping crane would when they migrate”, says Andy.
In addition to route planning, packing, and mental preparation, both bikers have been staying active and training almost daily. “It’s not an intellectual exercise alone. It’s also a physical exercise to experience existentially what migration’s like, like day in, day out for a long period,” Andy said.
This trip isn’t Mike’s first time traveling the flyway, and it certainly won’t be his last. “I’ve traveled up and down what we call the Whooper Highway, I don’t know, in the last five, six years, probably 20, 30 times, trying to tell stories in different spots. That was in a plane under motorized power, and all the other travel up and down has been in a steel and glass bubble. This will be really feeling the weight of that distance, that migration going from one place to another to another. This will be much more intimate in that sense.”
Mike and Andy hope to build a community of people across the flyway, united by one goal: their passion for wildlife and wild places. “It’s good for us to care about something else besides ourselves” says Mike. “Mike and I are characters in this thing, but this is about so much more than us” states Andy.
They invite you to follow along on social media as they pedal the Whooper Highway or join them on the ride if you’re able! Check out the link in our bio to find out how you can get involved.
#WhooperHighway #WhooperHwy #meettheteam #biking
It's Whooping Crane nesting season in Wisconsin—can you find the nest in this aerial photo?
🔗 Check out our May update on the Eastern Migratory Population at the link in bio.
#whooperwednesday #whoopingcrane #nesting #endangered #wisconsin #savingcranes
We would like to introduce our three new 2026 Crane Conservation Fellows who joined the Wisconsin team at the beginning of March! Please welcome Emily Banno, Jasmine Mateo, and Nina Conklin.
Emily grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in molecular environmental biology. She worked as a bird curatorial assistant at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and, most recently, as a field technician surveying the effects of anthropogenic noise on grassland bird behavior in Oklahoma.
Jasmine is from New York and graduated from Stony Brook University with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She previously worked as a marine conservation intern in the Florida Keys, where she led educational programs and conducted tropical fish surveys, and also was a greater prairie-chicken technician in Kansas.
Nina is from Rhode Island, graduated from UC Davis in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and has been working as a technician for a parakeet behavior research lab in Texas.
Emily, Jasmine, and Nina are all very excited to be here and are looking forward to participating in the research, monitoring, restoration, and outreach our team conducts in Wisconsin. Despite the variable weather this spring, Whooping and Sandhill Cranes have returned to their territories, and the fellows helped monitor their arrivals. In addition, they prepped for prescribed burns at our headquarters, shadowing outreach events, and are eager to start giving presentations themselves.
We look forward to all that the fellows will accomplish in the coming year and thank you to Scott Saunders, Joanne Doehler, and Diana and David Moore for their continued support of the fellowship program!
📸 Clearing vegetation along crane enclosures in prep for a prescribed burn; monitoring the early spring return of cranes to Wisconsin; practicing wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) in the event of handling a possible sick wild bird.
#fromthefield #craneconservationfellows #prescribedburn #restoration #craneconservation #wildlifeconservation #whoopingcranes #sandhillcranes #cranemonitoring #savingcranes
