Sandhill cranes migrate from northern summer grounds to over-winter in the Southeast, primarily in Florida. Alabama is joining Kentucky and Tennessee with hunting seasons for the birds. (Photo: USFWS)
Alabama wildlife officials will have a sandhill crane season, joining Kentucky and Tennessee as the only states east of the Mississippi River to reopen a season for the migratory birds.
Officials with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced the news in a press release. The birds migrate through the state, primarily in the northern part along the Tennessee River and further southeast toward winter grounds in Florida.
Nonresidents may apply for two tags per season in Kentucky, while Tennessee's opportunity is limited to residents. Alabama officials announced limited details, saying hunting will be by limited quota draw permit only, and 400 individual hunters will be drawn to participate.
Sandhill cranes were a species once hunted to near extinction. Laws were passed protecting these migratory birds and their wetland habitats. Hunting for sandhill crane in the United States was closed in 1916. Since then populations began rebounding and more recently their range has been expanding.
The Alabama DCNR's Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division began conducting crane counts in 2010 as part of its annual aerial waterfowl surveys. Sandhill crane numbers in Alabama have increased an average of 16 percent per year in the last 10 years. The latest five-year average is 15,029 birds.
Based on information from these crane counts and other states where hunting is allowed, Alabama's officials clearly have biological data that shows a limited hunt can be conducted.
More information will be provided at www.outdooralabama.com in the coming months.
