Jackson County’s visiting whooping crane is a rare sight indeed.
The bird is the only one of its kind known to be in the state, said Eva Szyszkoski, a tracking field manager for the International Crane Foundation, which raises and releases the birds.
It is among about 96 cranes raised by the foundation in the eastern migratory population, she said.
The whooping crane was recently sighted near Munith, accompanied by two sandhill cranes, which move through the area during fall migration.
The bird is one of less than 500 left in the wild, according to the foundation.
Szyszkoski said Jackson’s crane has been spending summers in Michigan since 2008, though she was not sure of its exact location during that season. It heads to Jackson County in the spring and fall, she said.
The foundation hopes the crane will find a mate during the winter and begin nesting, likely bringing a companion back to Michigan, she said.
But it could be tough for the crane to find a partner, she said. Most of the birds in the crane’s wintering grounds in the south are already paired up, are male or are uninterested females, Szyszkoski said.
“He’ll have to work hard,” she said.