Endangered bird spotted in Humedal Grande Park from Ciego de Ávila

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Avistan ave en peligro de extinción en Parque Humedal Grande de Ciego de Ávila

The Cuban crane, a bird in danger of extinction, was sighted in the Humedal Grande Park, located to the north of the province Ciego de Ávila, in quantities of specimens that indicate the second largest population of this sub-endemic species in Cuba, following the registered one in la Isla de la Juventud.

“We observed three specimens in one place and the same number in another. We are currently running checks to make sure they are not the same. They are in the reproductive season, which is noticeable in the change in the coloration of their feathers, as they vary from gray to brown”, Odey Martínez Llanes, specialist of the brigade of the Provincial Company for the Protection of Flora and Fauna in Cayo Coco, explained.

To achieve the permanence of this species, proper management must be carried out, which entails doing controlled burns. "The day after the fires they go to these places, where they can find dead animals that are essential for their food," the source itself said.

The Cuban crane (Antigones canadensis nesiotes) makes up the group of the largest birds in Cuba, together with the little egret and the flamingo. Martínez Llanes stressed that "it is a native of the United States and Cuba is the only island in the Caribbean that has this species of bird."

Avistan ave en peligro de extinción en Parque Humedal Grande de Ciego de Ávila

Also known as the sand crane, it emigrated to Cuba thousands of years ago and it is known about its establishment in other provinces such as Pinar del Río, Camagüey, Matanzas and la Isla de la Juventud, mainly in sterile savannas, suitable lands for feeding, which is based on of tubers, roots, seeds, leaves, insects, fish, reptiles and amphibians.

According to an article published in Ecured, the cranes walk in pairs or families, but not in groups, it is interesting to see a group of these birds performing aerial acrobatics. They fly in formation very similar to that of geese. Despite being very skittish and having good eyesight, they have been hunted indiscriminately, as they are used to return to the usual feeders, even if their companions have been killed.

It is a bird with long legs and neck, with gray plumage and white throat, the crown has no feathers, but the skin in this region is reddish and covered with small black hairs. They walk gravely at slow steps and with bent necks, in the shape of an S, which they stretch from time to time to check for danger.

“They mate for life and have a spectacular exhibition of courtship. The male and the female do not present many differences in their appearance; the female crane has more subdued colors and the male has black feathers”, the article in the Cuban encyclopedia highlights.

In Cuba, there is a Cuban Crane Program that consists of the management of their habitats and an environmental education campaign, in order for the population to know and protect it so that these beautiful creatures do not disappear.