Whooping Crane
2008 Migration to Florida
Journey South Update

The Whooping Cranes at the Necedah Wildlife Refuge that are being trained to fly south following an ultralight aircraft are getting closer to take off. Unfortunately, one of the birds (#810) got a little hostile and one other chick was killed and two were injured. One of the injured birds was sent back to Maryland as it has super genes and they want to preserve it for breeding. The other one is OK, but the attack messed up it's feather development and it was having trouble flying. It will be sent to a Zoo, where lots of people will be able to see this amazing bird.

My little gal, yes I have "adopted" #824. She jumped out at me from the page of 15 birds and when I saw her number was my birthday I decided she was the one for me. I just read that in her group (there are three age groups or cohorts) she was the first to "fledge" AND she did it on my birthday 8/24!! She's apparently a good flyer, however she's also a little aggressive - from her writeup:

Cohort 3 (the youngest birds) has a few meanies — and #824 is one of them. However, these youngest meanies have been associating with other chicks with a little less hatred than the bullies in Cohort 1. She is a good follower but makes a beeline to peck at any other chicks that she sees.

"Chick #824 is one of the only two girls in the last group probably tries the hardest to be the most dominant bird. She will stand up so tall when #829 is near and give him the stink eye. He really doesn't want to fight, but she provokes him. She normally ends up turning and walking away."

Well, you go girl. Wonder if she thinks #829 is cute?

Some pictures of #824.




Pictures are from the Whooping Crane Journey North/South website.
Field Notes on the progress of the training can be found at the Operation Migration website.

Next weekend there is a Whooping Crane Festival near the wildlife refuge where these birds are being trained and we are camping near by and attending the festival. Should be a fun weekend and although I'm sure we won't get to see the flock, there are tours through the refuge and perhaps we will see some of the adults who are also about ready to take off on their own migration south. They have made the trip before and know the way.

I found some interesting video's on YouTube that I thought I would share for anyone interested in this fascinating process. The first is of them leaving Necedah and the second of a flock arriving in Florida.

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Whooping Crane
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Whooping Crane

International Crane Foundation

Baraboo, Wi

This last weekend we went camping at Devil's Lake State Park, located a little south of Baraboo, Wi. As I got there first and had a morning before the rest of the family joined me I took the opportunity to visit the International Crane Foundation facility. As a birder, I wanted to add the bird to my life list. Chances were slim I would see this endangered species in the wild, so I was excited about my visit.

Frankly, knowing they were almost extinct at one point was about all I knew about whooping cranes, but I came away from my visit a member of the foundation and I am looking forward this fall to watching a group of captive bred chicks follow an ultralight airplane from Wisconsin to Florida on their first migration. Who knew?

At one point during the 1940's there were less than 20 known whooping cranes left in the wild. Their migratory path originated in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada, where they nested and raised their young. In the fall they flew south 2500 miles to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas where they spend the winter and early spring. In 1993 a second flock of Whooping Cranes was reintroduced in central Florida. An average of 20 chicks, hatched and reared in captivity, have been released at the Florida site each year in an effort to establish a new flock of non-migratory Whoopers. The third flock, however, is being trained to migrate. The birds spend spring and summer at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin and migrate to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in west Florida for winter.

Today, the total population of the three flocks has increased to over 500.

Birds like geese and cranes who migrate during the day have no inbred sense of where to go - the chicks learn the path by flying south with their parents and the next trip they are on their own and remember the way home. Obviously, with captive bred chicks (or orphans) that first trip is not going to happen naturally. So, man has come up with a clever way to lead young cranes on their first migration - the ultralight airplane. They call them trikes - and that's what they look like. Here's a picture I borrowed from one of the sites linked in this blog.

In Necedah (say Nuh SEE duh) National Wildlife Refuge in Central Wisconsin 16 chicks hatched in captivity in 2008 are being readied for their first flight to Florida. Here is the website to track their progress - Whooping Crane Journey South. This is a great site for children to participate and comes with downloadable booklets, etc. aimed at the younger crowd.

I don't pretend to know much about this yet, but since I am so close to the ICF and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge I plan on learning more. I also plan to watch thse little guys head south starting in October. You can see their pictures on the link above.

A website with tons of information, additional links, pictures, etc - Operation Migration. This is the 8th year of this program, in which pilots wear crane costumes to teach the young birds to bond with and follow the pilot.

The facility I visited - International Crane Foundation says -

The International Crane Foundation (ICF) works worldwide to conserve cranes and the wetland and grassland ecosystems on which they depend. ICF is dedicated to providing experience, knowledge, and inspiration to involve people in resolving threats to these ecosystems

In addition to conservation methods, the foundation is also a founding member of the Whooping Cranes Eastern Partnership, which is a group of non-profit organizations dedicated to bringing a migratory flock of whooping cranes back to the eastern USA.

At the ICF there is a natural wetlands habitat for the whooping cranes and they house many other international cranes in enclosures. They are presently under construction for a new natural habitat which will be home for some of those cranes.

International Crane Foundation (ICF) page on the Whooping Crane - ICF - Whooping Crane

There are many nature walks at the facility, lots and lots of wildflowers - I am told it is spectacular in May but the best thing of all were the whooping cranes.

Here are a couple of my pictures.

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Whooping Crane
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