A place to call home

Though not known for sure, it is believed that the Mississippi sandhill crane was part of an extensive population in southeastern U.S. (eastern Texas, Louisiana and parts of western Florida) at one time. However, its habitat had already been adversely affected and the number of cranes had declined when they were first surveyed in the early 1900s. The Mississippi sandhill crane appears only in the wet pine savanna lands of their refuge, between the Pascagoula River and the Harrison-Jackson County line.

Savannas, swamps and pine plantations make up the three plant communities that exist on the refuge. The Mississippi sandhill crane depends primarily on the savanna community on a year-round basis. Savannas are soggy, mushy grasslands with scattered pines on acidic, water-logged soil, unfit for most uses. They appear on coastal terraces, elevated ridges and uplands. Frequent and intense natural fires, in combination with soil type and hydrology, sustain these savannas. In the absence of naturally occurring fire, woody forests replace the savanna, turning the cranes only home into an unsuitable habitat.

There is only 1 to 5 percent of tree coverage in the area. In addition, the environment is among those with the highest diversity of plants. Many rare carnivorous plants, such as pitcher plants and sundews, as well as unique orchids, can be found there. Pitcher plant bogs can be seen in the wet pine savanna when it is really wet.

Nesting and mating habitat

The cranes' survival depends in large part on their ability to reproduce in the wild. Mississippi sandhill cranes usually prefer specific breeding territory within the refuge for courtship, mating and nesting, and are so protective of the area they have chosen they may defend it from other cranes. The breeding territory size usually depends on the quality and type of the habitat, the age of the paired cranes and the population density of other cranes. In each of the open savannas, there has been only one mating pair observed. However, there have been cranes that have mated within one mile of each other in clearings that are separated by forested areas. Sandhill cranes can use these nesting territories from one year to possibly 17 years and will sometimes reuse their nests for three consecutive years. New nests usually are built near the old nests.

Mississippi sandhill cranes reach sexual maturity at three or four years old. Females become more active a year after the males. Female cranes begin to lay eggs between the ages of three and six years, and most often will raise only one chick a year. The hatching process begins in April and peaks during the first few weeks of May, ending in mid-August. In 1988, only 51 percent of the eggs hatched (approximately 71 out of 142) in the wild. Since then, hatching success has declined.