Citizens asked to report sightings of whooping cranes

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation said in the past two weeks a very rare bird was spotted at Lake Overholser in Oklahoma City - an unusual location for the endangered whooping crane. 

Standing at nearly 5-feet tall, the whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America and can be seen passing through the state until mid-November.

The ODWC is asking state residents to report sightings of this rare bird.

“Just over 300 whooping cranes are en route from their nesting grounds in Canada to their wintering location along the central Texas coast," said Mark Howery, wildlife diversity biologist for the Wildlife Department.

Howery urges Oklahomans to keep watch for the cranes around shallow wetlands, marshes, river bottoms and partially-flooded pastures and grain fields in the western half of the state. 

Continued:  http://www.ardmoreite.com/article/20121029/NEWS/121029717/-1/Sports