Birds of Feather Flock Together in New Mexico Federal Refuge : Wildlife: Endangered whooping cranes join sandhills, geese and ducks to winter at Bosque del Apache site. Tourists and bird-watchers follow on a wing and a prayer.

It starts quietly with a few birds here, a few birds there. Soon, the cackling of sandhill cranes fills the air as thousands of the lanky birds swoop in against the reddish-blue New Mexico sunset.

They’re joined each evening by snow geese, ducks and a few endangered whooping cranes on the shallow ponds that serve as roosting areas at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

For birds, the 57,190-acre preserve and surrounding area is their winter home. For bird watchers, the refuge is a photo opportunity.

Park volunteer Wayne Reynolds says the birds’ roosting patterns are usually set by the third week in November, when the preserve celebrates its annual Festival of the Cranes. This year, according to refuge manager Phil Norton, the festival drew up to 14,000 people.

The birds--about 17,000 cranes, 50,000 geese and 75,000 ducks--flock to the shallow ponds each evening and leave en masse every morning. The roosting ritual gives photographers brief windows of opportunity to capture the perfect shot against the sunrise or sunset.

Those who aren’t as interested in photos are drawn by a chance to see endangered whooping cranes.

Bosque biologist Terry Tadano says only 163 whoopers are known to exist in the United States and Canada, and between four and 12 of them make Bosque del Apache home each year, mingling with the sandhill cranes. Creatures of habit, each whooping crane lives at the same spot each year.

That--plus their glistening white feathers that stand out from the dusty gray coats of the sandhills--make whoopers easy to spot.

A ride around the 12-mile tourist loop could yield a glimpse of one of the large whoopers--or maybe a pack of wild turkeys that crisscrosses the area looking for cover. Elk roam, and so do coyotes, who can make a meal of an unsuspecting crane by sneaking up behind it.

But the biggest danger for cranes--including endangered whoopers--comes during their migration to New Mexico from Grays Lake National Wildlife Reserve in Idaho. More cranes die from hitting power lines and fence posts on their way south than any other way, Tadano says.

Cranes’ migrating patterns are fairly well established. The Idaho-New Mexico route runs parallel to another migration of sandhills and whoopers, which extends from Alberta, Canada, to Aransas, Texas.

Because those are the two main western routes for cranes, they’re vulnerable to the whims of nature. Tadano said biologists worry that one epidemic illness, or one bad weather system, could wipe out an entire flock of whooping cranes.

Scientists are using ultralight planes, painted to resemble birds, in hopes of luring more whooping cranes onto the less-traveled Idaho-New Mexico route.

Tadano says the planes are the only active project to help the whoopers. Unsuccessful plans have included placing whooping crane eggs in sandhill nests to increase their survival chances. Biologists also tinkered with crossbreeding sandhills and whoopers, but it was a romantic failure.

“The birds interact together,” Tadano says. “But when it comes to mating patterns and mating dances, it’s totally different.”

During the festival, special bus tours take visitors off the Bosque’s main loop into areas where the majority of the birds live. The birds eat corn, alfalfa, grass and other vegetation that is carefully managed by the preserve’s 17 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees and 28 full-time volunteers.

The refuge is the most heavily managed bird sanctuary in the country, thanks to the volunteers, Tadano says. Volunteers like Reynolds help with such tasks as removing and burning the pesky salt cedar trees that, undisturbed, would overtake the preserve.

Others build observation decks or monitor the intricate water system.

Most of the sanctuary’s 100,000 annual visitors come in the fall.

Sometimes the commotion distracts the birds, “but it hasn’t gotten to the point where we want to discourage tourists,” he says. “It’s such a beautiful sight. We just want people to come down and enjoy it.”