Meet Katelyn Garrett – Our Whooping Crane Person in Indiana
By Chuck Anderson, ABAS President
Katelyn Garrett is currently the Whooping Crane Outreach Assistant in Indiana for the International Crane Foundation (ICF). The awareness project in Indiana is fully funded by a $35,000 grant from ABAS.
Katelyn graduated in 2022 from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management and a concentration in Entomology. After leaving college, she worked for the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment where she performed bird surveys and small mammal live trapping. Her next job was monitoring wind turbines near Lafayette for fatalities.
In mid-October 2022, she accepted a position with the IFC as their Whooping Crane Outreach Assistant in Indiana. This limited-term position runs through April 30, 2023. In this capacity, she has led weekly bird walks at Goose Pond to view Sandhill and Whooping Cranes as well as migrating waterfowl.
November through January, each Saturday just before sunset, she set up her spotting scope on the viewing tower at Jasper-Pulaski FWA. She was then able to help observers view the cranes that were returning to the fields to socialize before retiring to their evening roosts. Present was a leucistic Sandhill Crane which many observers mistook for a Whooping Crane to which Katelyn explained the field mark differences.
When she’s not afield, Katelyn is presenting programs either in-person or via Zoom. Her audiences include Master Naturalist classes, scouting groups, libraries, Audubon Societies, and other public events. She especially enjoys talking with hunters in the early mornings as they are drawing for hunting spots on preserves.
Katelyn says that the Eastern Migratory Population (EMP) of Whooping Cranes is currently 76 individuals, of which 18 are wild-hatched and the rest are captive-reared. 2022 saw 4 releases into the EMP. In 2020, there were 80 Whooping Cranes in the EMP. She said that the EMP is not yet self-sustaining without releases of Whooping Cranes from the ICF and partners due to a variety of reasons. Whooping Cranes face many threats in their first few years of life, including powerline collisions, a higher chance of predation, and poaching throughout their range. In the future, they are hoping to release more individuals into the EMP, though it’s difficult to say how many. It should be noted that no Whooping Cranes have been shot in Indiana since 2017. The best way to stay current on future releases and to find updates on the population is to check the IFC’s website. You can also report your own Whooping Crane sightings here: https://savingcranes.org/learn/species-field-guide/whooping-crane/
Katelyn estimated that between 20 and 30 Whooping Cranes winter in Indiana, with between 11 and 15 in Goose Pond FWA. When viewing the Whooping Cranes, ICF recommends staying a distance of at least 200 yards, or two football fields, to keep from disturbing them. Most of the EMP spends the summer nesting on or around Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin. One or two pairs have been documented to nest in Indiana.
You can meet Katelyn at the Indianapolis Zoo where she will be tabling during the xZOOberance Spring Festival from March 23 through April 16. She is also presenting a program at the Carmel Clay Public Library on April 6. Stop by and tell her that you appreciate her efforts advocating for Whooping Cranes in Indiana.
After her limited-term employment with the ICF ends in April, we wish her well in her new endeavors.
