Journey North Whooping Cranes

Eastern Flock
Meet the 2006 Whooping Crane Chicks!
Photos Courtesy of Operation Migration, B. Clauss, Patuxent WRC, M. Wellington, ICF

These are the "Hatch Year 2006" chicks. They are so-named because they were born in the spring of 2006. Their first migration was in fall of 2006. Spring 2007 was their first spring migration. They learned to migrate in one of three ways:

For Hatch Years
2001-2006
see below.

Group I: Followed Parents on first migration

Wild-born
A chick that learned to migrate
by following her parents.

Crane #W601
First wild-born!

Group II: Followed Older Cranes on first migration

Captive-bred
Direct Autumn Release (DAR)
Captive-bred chicks that learned to migrate by following older cranes.

Crane #27-06

Crane #28-06

Crane #26-06
(Died April 13, 2007)

Crane #32-06
(Died Jan., 2007)

Group III: Followed Ultra-light Planes on first migration

Captive-bred
chicks that learned to migrate
by following ultra-light planes.

Note: Tragically, all but one of the "Class of 2006" cranes below were killed on February, 2, 2007, when a storm hit their wintering grounds in Florida. The single remaining crane, #615, was also lost in the spring. See: Tribute to the Class of 2006 >>