Photo: Operation Migration Meet the New 2007 Whooping Crane Chicks! Hatch-year 2007 of the Eastern Flock Crane # 726 Date Hatched May 25, 2007 Gender Female Egg Source: USGS Patuxent WRC Permanent Leg Bands Weight 09/05/07: 5.5 kilograms Left Leg Right Leg G/W/G R/G Read about the naming system, hatch place in Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering site in Florida, and leg-band codes. Personality and History Migration Training: #726 is huge! She is almost twice the size of her training buddies, but she is nice and mellow. She has two siblings (#710 and #714) in the Class of 2007. In her first weeks of life she was easily distracted by yummy worms and other treats. She was not a good follower. She ruled the roost and kept #727 in check before younger #733 and #735 came along to complete this group. Trainer Barb said, "726 was never really mean, but a subtle peck or even her mere presence was enough to make the other chicks move away and out of her reach." She came to Wisconsin in cohort 3, the group of 4 youngest chicks that arrived July 18. By July 31 she could fly in ground effect for short distances. Chicks #735, #726 ad #727 training on Aug. 22. Photo OM By mid August, 726 was flying very short circuits behind the ultralight plane. Because of the large age gap in Cohort 3, the group's two older chicks (726 and 727) were trained together for a short time before the two younger chicks joined them. The pilots then slowed the pace for the two younger birds. All are making steady progress. By mid September #726 was flying longer and farther. She followed the trike much better than when she was a tiny chick. But Bev says #726 is still more interested in chasing grasshoppers than following the ultralight plane! On October 6, chick #726 strutted her stuff when she flew alone with Chris and his plane and stayed with him for the entire flight!   First Migration South: Chick #726 left Wisconsin for his first migration on October 13th, 2007. She flew the whole first leg of the journey and landed safely at Stopover #1! Find day-by-day news about the flock's migration and read more about #726 below. She's doing wonderfully on the migration, but here's a story about her mischief: Nov. 7, Day 26: Pilot Chris wrote, "I've had the pleasure of flying with #726 for the last two flights. This bird loves to be in the lead position and is constantly pulling my strings (literally). Our fabric wings attain their airfoil shape by aluminum battens that are inserted into the wing and secured at the trailing edge by strings under tension. Crane #726 has picked up a habit of tugging on the outer batten string; an amusing thing to watch the first few times, but it becomes a bit annoying after awhile. Surfing my right wing, she would continuously grab the knot at the end of the string and give an upward tug, trying to hold on as long as possible. Each time she tugs the string, I need to counteract by bringing the wing back down; otherwise I begin to turn to the left. This went on for the entire flight and I had visions of her actually succeeding in removing the batten — a scary thought for me as well as any unfortunate person standing on the ground below me." #726 investigates the ever-present adult crane model that got knocked down in their pen. Photo Bev Paulan, Operation Migration Dec. 12, Day 61: It was a no-fly day, but the third day down, so the chicks were let out to exercise. Chick 726 didn't want to be herded back into the pen. She turned on Brooke and made a great show of jumping at him, spinning, jumping, and trying to show Brooke who was the boss of this game! She was one of four chicks that wouldn't go back into the pen until after a very soggy game of tag. Dec. 20: Megan and Brian took the birds out to play in the some water. #726 didn't want to go back into to the pen! At the last moment she turned and flew away. She stood watching from the crest of a hill, wings drooping nearly to the ground out of pure exhaustion. Megan said, "She followed easily, but slowly after I trotted up the hill to fetch her before she tried to fly again. Stopping for a short rest every few feet made for a long trip, but she seemed in much better spirits by the time we got to the pen." Jan. 28, 2008: Migration complete! Crane #726 had attained her adult voice by February, 2008. Spring 2008, First Journey North: Began migration from Florida March 26 in a group of five (716, 717, 721, 724, and 726). They ended up in Calhoun County, Georgia for the night, about 220 miles north of their starting location. The next day, after a fog rolled through, the cranes resumed migration to Coffee County, Tennessee. On March 31, these five birds left Coffee County and were in Daviess County, Indiana that evening. They continued migration to Jefferson County, Wisconsin on April 16. On April 19 at 11:30 they arrived in the vicinity of Necedah NWR and proceeded to circle over portions of Juneau, Adams, Monroe, and Wood Counties before they landed on farmland along the Yellow River. Migration complete! (They didn't stay on Necedah NWR until April 21.) Fighting with a sandhill crane (far left) in Jefferson County, WI April 19: HOME! Photos Eva Szyszkoski, ICF   Last updated: 4/22/08 Back to "Meet the Flock 2007" Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).