Flying in for Festival of the Cranes

Cranes and crane watchers will descend on Decatur this weekend for the 15th annual Festival of the Cranes, starting today.

Why it matters: The festival provides a front-row seat for a major winter bird gathering, highlighting the impact and importance of wetland habitats.

Zoom in: Festival of the Cranes runs through Sunday at Wheeler Wildlife Refuge and in downtown Decatur, with a stacked lineup.

• Check out talks, live raptor and reptile shows, photography workshops, educational programs, films, family-friendly crafts and more, all to raise awareness and support for crane habitat.
• Events are spread across multiple venues, including the Alabama Center for the Performing Arts, Princess Theater and the refuge's visitors center.

What they're saying: "We're right at typical peak numbers," David Young, park ranger at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, told Axios.

• "We had 23,000 sandhill cranes ... and at least 16 endangered whooping cranes spotted on the refuge this past week," he said Thursday.
• The festival aims to teach that endangered whooping cranes come to Alabama in the winter, he said, something they hope people take pride in and work together to protect.

Context: Crane numbers can vary quite a bit, and while Young notes more than 30,000 sandhill cranes were counted a couple years back, whooping cranes have been averaging in the 15-25 range since the first one returned to Alabama in 2004.

• The cranes come to Wheeler for the fields, which offer open spaces away from people, and food: corn for the sandhill cranes and various eats like grubs, fish, snakes and frogs for the whooping cranes, he said.
• They also find refuge in the mud flats, where they overnight away from land-based predators, Young said.

Driving the news: Habitat loss and degradation rank as one of the top threats to the Wheeler Complex, according to a 2007 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of the Interior, "largely due to development pressures related to Alabama's increasing human population."

• And recent developments, residential and industrial, continue to move forward in Wheeler's backyard as Huntsville grows rapidly.

What we're watching: The forecast today is rough, with plenty of rain coming through tomorrow morning, followed by clearer skies but colder temperatures Sunday.

• For the cranes, though, Young says, "There may be fewer if it's really wet and rainy ... but there's always a good number, even in the rain."

If you go: Young recommends planning ahead. Check out which specific events you want to hit and plan out your trip.

• And carpool. It can be a 20-minute wait for a parking spot at the visitors center, with as many as 8,000 people expected for the festival, he said.