Meet the New 2005 Whooping Crane Chicks!
Hatch-year 2005 of the Eastern Flock
Crane # 508

Date Hatched

May 8 , 2005

Gender

Female

Date Arrived in Wisconsin

July 13
Weight Aug. 31

Permanent Band Colors
Left Leg: PTT
W/R
 
 


5.7 Kg

Right Leg:
G/W radio USFWS bands

 
 

 
  • Read about the naming system, birth place in Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering site in Florida and leg-band codes.

Personality and History

Migration Training: Gave trainers a bit of a scare for for the first few days after hatching. She was not gaining weight well and had to be tube fed. Made a comeback on May 11 and is now doing well.
Began first training a few days later when still pretty young, and was quite scared of the trike. After a few days she was much less frightened. On May 15 she was found fighting with 504 (who later got sick and died) through the Plexiglas that separates their pens. Their food bowls were right next to each other and they were fighting over them. #508 is about 5-7 inches tall, while the older 504 was already around 2 feet tall. Birds that young can be violent enough to take on full adults sometimes too. It is a great example of the instinctual aggressiveness of these chicks. She got along with #509 while at Patuxent. The trainers worked hard to add chick #513 to the little group of #508 and #509. (#513 wants to be in charge all the time.) By the end of June she seemed to grow out of her aggressiveness. She now lets #513 dominate this group of oldest birds. Chick #508 was held back in Maryland due to injuries when the rest of cohort 2 was shipped on July 6. Instead, #508 arrived at Necedah NWR in Wisconsin with shipment 3 (the youngest chicks) on July 13. She and #514, also held back with injuries, were reunited in the pen with their old cohort after arrival. They did well on the journey from Patuxent in Maryland and began to drink and eat upon entering the pen at their new summer home in Wisconsin. On July 30 it was too windy to train with the trike, so the birds were let out to exercise. Right away, #508 and #509 (currently, cohort 2's two best flyers) took off and easily cleared the short fence bordering the runway to land about 50 yards away in a fun, marshy area.
On August 1 #508 was flying on the wing of the trike (while #509 flew straight into the marsh as usual)--and #508 flew 17 minutes with the ultralight!
On September 9, #508 and her Cohort 2 had a great day. All 8 birds took off from the runway on the first try and never looked back. They flew for about 15 minutes, and stayed with the pilot for the entire flight! What a relief after several days of dropping out and missing flying time after the stress of the health checks.

She has gone from being a very aggressive little chick to a submissive colt and a good flyer. She follows and flies well, and loves the water in the wet pen.

History
First Migration South: Chick #508 left Wisconsin for her first migration on October 14th, 2005. Read day-by-day news about the flock's migration to see what happens.

Here is more news about Chick #508's first migration:

On Day 1, #508 landed 1 mile short of the first stopover site. She was just too tired to make the distance. She was crated and driven to the first stopover site, but did just great after that! She landed safely with the flock at the temporary holding site at Halpata Preserve in Marion County, FL on December 13. The cranes will be moved to their final release pen in mid-January after all the older cranes have dispersed from the pen site.

On January 9--nearly a month after the migration ended, Crane #508 was the only one to successfully fly with the ultralights from the temporary pen at Halpata Preserve to their final winter pen at Chassahowitzka NWR, 26 miles away. She spent the night by herself in the top-netted pen at Chassahowitzka. Pilots spent the next 2 days trying to move the rest of the birds.

Spring 2006: Began first spring migration from the "Chass" pen site March 28 with all flock members except 520. This flock of 18 split at roost time on March 28, and fourteen juveniles (501, 502, 503, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 512, 514, 519, 523, and 524) stayed together. They probably roosted near the confluence of Turner, Crisp and Wilcox Counties in Georgia. They didn't move the next day. On March 30 they resumed migration and roosted in Hamilton County, TN. The next roosting place was March 31 in Spence County, KY; April 1 in Jefferson County, IN; April 2 and 3 in DuPage County, IL; April 4 in McHenry County, IL. (past Chicago). They are determined to get back to Wisconsin! They flew two days in rain, and in stong headwinds on April 4. On April 5 they resumed migration, stopping in Sauk County, WI--just short of Necedah NWR! Tracker Richard Urbanek was monitoring them the morning of April 6 when they took off. They completed spring migration as they passed the SW corner of Necedah NWR just after noon. (They kept going! They landed, foraged, and roosted that night in nearby Trempealeau County, WI.)

A PTT reading for #508 on the night of 8 September 8 indicated that the pair #508 and #407 had moved to southeastern MINNESOTA, where #407 had been present at the same time in 2005. The pair later moved to Marathon County, Wisconsin, where they hung out with a flock of sandhill cranes.

Fall 2006: Remained in Central Wisconsin with mate #407 until late November. She was later reported in Alabama and then by Dec. 27 in Florida. She was in a small flock of sandhill cranes. (Her former mate 407 was not seen after a Nov. 29 sighting in Wisconsin, until he was seen without her in Florida on Dec. 28.) PTT signals in early January put her in Louisiana where she was observed with Sandhill cranes.
Feb. 2, 2007: Crane #508 forages with Sandhill cranes in Louisiana.

Photo Richard Urbanek, ICF.

Spring 2007: Female #508 began migration from Louisiana on March 4. A PTT reading showed she roosted in Illinois, on the night of March 23. She returned to the core reintroduction area in Central Wisconsin by March 29.

Fall 2007: Migrated from Wsconsin to Kane County, Illinois, on November 22 with crane #401. By the end of December the two were in Davidson County, Tennessee.

Cranes #508 and #401 are on private property. The owner put up a sign because people were trespassing to see the pair of whoopers. (Unfortunately, some people still trespassed, endangering the birds' safety.)

Spring 2008: Signals heard on the refuge March 30 confirmed the pair (401 and 508) was back on Necedah NWR. They began nesting around April 16, but only eggshell fragments were found when the nest was checked on May 5.

This pair separated for a short time in early fall but got together again on November 5 or 6.

Fall 2008:

Last updated: 11/08/08

 

Back to "Meet the Flock 2005"


Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).