Karner Blue Butterfly.
Photo Credit Thomas Meyer WDNR

Karner Blue Butterfly
Wisconsin Status: Species of concern but not listed, Federal Status: Endangered
This fragile blue butterfly only measures about one inch across its wingspan. Males and females are different in coloration and pattern. The topside of the male's wings are silvery or dark blue with narrow black margins. The female's are grayish brown, especially on the outer portions of the wings, to blue on the topside, with irregular bands of orange crescents inside the narrow black border. The underside of both butterflies' wings are the same pale gray with a continuous band of orange crescents inside iridescent blue spots along the edges of both wings.

The Karner blue's lifecycle depends completely on one plant, the wild lupine. The lavas feed exclusively on lupine leaves. This means that the Karner blue butterfly is severely restricted as to where it can live and survive.

Karner blue's habitat can be found in Wisconsin's sandy oak savanna and pine barren areas. Wisconsin still has the most widespread populations along with: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New York. But Karner blue population numbers have dropped in the United States mostly because the areas where wild lupine grows have been developed or divided up for roads, buildings, towns, and cities. This habitat has also lost the natural disturbance, such as wildfire and grazing animals, needed to keep this area a prairie habitat.

Wisconsin is fortunate because our landscape supports the largest and most widespread Karner blue populations worldwide. You'll find healthy populations in the far northwestern parts of the state and in central Wisconsin. For more information on the Karner Blue Butterfly visit the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

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The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)
Wisconsin Status: endangered, Federal Status: not listed
The trumpeter swan is the largest native waterfowl species in North America, the large white bird weighs between 21-30 pounds, has a wingspan of more than 7 feet, and is about 4 feet tall. They are often confused with the tundra swan, the only other native swan found routinely in North America. There are slight differences between their head and bill shapes, but the best way to tell them apart is by their calls. The trumpeter swan has a deep, loud trumpet-like call. The tundra swan has a high-pitched, quavering call that sounds more like a Canada goose. Another swan confused with the trumpeter is the mute swan. This exotic species is easily told apart from other swans by its orange bill and prominent black, fleshy knob extending from the base of its bill to its forehead.

Trumpeter swans were once fairly common throughout most of the northern United States and Canada. Market hunting reduced the number of nesting swans and by 1900 it was believed that the species had become extinct. Fortunately, a two small population survived in the remote mountain valleys of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming and in parts of Alaska and western Canada. With protection the swans numbers have increased.

In an effort to increase the swan population and improve their chances of survival, some trumpeters were moved to areas with good swan habitat. Efforts continue to restore trumpeters to the Midwest where populations of swans are still low. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan are establishing flocks of trumpeters that will help create a migratory and breeding population of swans in the upper Midwest. In 2002, 51 nests were located in 14 counties, mostly in northwestern Wisconsin. Thirty-one of the nests were found in Burnett and Polk counties.

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Blanding's Turtle (Emydoidea blandingi)
Wisconsin Status: Threatened, Federal Status: Not listed
You can tell a Blanding's turtle from a distance by its unique bright yellow neck and chin. Their head, tail, and legs are blue-black. The upper shell, called a carapace, is smooth and black with speckles of yellow spots and streaks. The underside of its shell, called a plastron, is yellow with blotches of brown and black. It is medium-sized turtle, on average, an adult turtle is 8 to 10 inches long and weighs up to 3 pounds. The Blanding's turtle is classified as a "semi-box turtle." This means the plastron is hinged across the center and can be pulled up to protect the turtle's head, neck, and legs from predators.

The Blanding's turtle makes its home in marshes, ponds, quiet streams, and shallow bays. It can be found in wetlands in southern Ontario and northwestern Pennsylvania in the East, through Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and southern Minnesota, and also Nebraska, Iowa, and northeastern Missouri in the West. In Wisconsin, Blanding's turtles live throughout the state except in extreme north central counties. Wisconsin is not the only state where the Blanding's turtle is threatened. They are listed as endangered in North Dakota and Maine, and threatened in Nova Scotia.

Turtles need both water and land to survive. Wetland areas are disappearing in Wisconsin. In fact, 50 percent of the original wetland areas in Wisconsin have been lost due to city development and farmers draining the land for crops. The loss of habitat has greatly decreased the turtle population. Roads are also a hazard for all turtles. They are barriers to cross for nesting and many turtles are killed by traffic.

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The Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)
Fossils over six million years old found in Nebraska make the sandhill crane the oldest still-living species of bird. Sandhills are native to Wisconsin, much of North America and eastern Russia. There are six subspecies, or races, of sandhill cranes. The subspecies living in Wisconsin is the greater sandhill crane.

The greater sandhill crane a tall gray bird, about 4 feet tall, with a wingspan of 6-7 feet and weighs between 8 and 11 pounds. Adults have yellow eyes, black bills, legs and feet, with a bright red patch on the crest of their head. Males and females look nearly alike. During mating season the sandhill cranes have a unique courtship ritual. They alternately bow and leap into the air with wings stretched out and they circle each other. While they dance, the pair lets out a series of loud calls. The male utters a note followed quickly by the female's two-note answer. Sometimes you can hear them from 2 miles away on still spring mornings.

Sandhill cranes are on the move in fall and spring when they migrate to and from Florida where they spend the winter months. In the fall, cranes "stage" (gather together in groups of several thousand) in larger wetland areas in Wisconsin like: Crex Meadows, White River Marsh, Sandhill State Wildlife Area, Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and Comstock Marsh

In the 1800s, the land sandhill cranes inhabited was destroyed by speculators and they were hunted to near extinction. In 1916, the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act was signed, protecting the remaining birds. Today, the crane population is in good shape, benefiting from habitat restoration projects around the state.

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