Whooping Cranes – Canada’s Conservation Success Story

Presenter: Stan Shadwick

The Whooping Crane is North America’s tallest and most elegant native bird. Although still an endangered species, their Canadian population has increased 33-fold from the early 1940s when they were on the brink of extinction.

In his presentation, Stan will summarize the role that Canadian biologists, naturalists and conservation organizations played in protecting this majestic bird. He will also add some personal Whooping Crane observations during the past 40 years while leading birding tours to view migrating cranes near Saskatoon.

Stan Shadick has had a keen interest in both birds and astronomy for over 6 decades. He has been a past president and active member of both the Saskatoon Nature Society and Nature Saskatchewan. In 2004, he was awarded the Meewasin Conservation Award for his efforts to support conservation of natural habitat.  He was editor of Birds of Saskatoon reference book and contributed to the recently published – Birds of Saskatchewan.

After retiring in 2018 as a university astronomy instructor, he has volunteered his time leading birding tours to Saskatchewan’s birding hotspots with Saskatoon Custom Bird Tours as a fundraiser for Saskatoon’s Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation charity. His goal for these tours is to make Saskatchewan an important ecotourism destination. Because governments seem to only pay attention to economic arguments, he hopes these efforts will persuade authorities to protect our vanishing native prairie, home to many of Canada’s most endangered bird species.

TICKETS FOR NON-MEMBERS: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/bird-study-group-whooping-cranes-canadas-conservation-success-story-tickets-237204002557