Personality
and History
After
hatching at ICF, this chick was nicknamed "Wingnut" by
caretakers, but her real and only official name is DAR 39-07. DAR
#39-07
had some damage to her bill from running into the fence when
she was afraid.
She
and DAR 43-07 were released together October 30, 2007 on Necedah
NWR with adult Whooping Crane #102. That night she roosted
in the day pen marsh. She later joined five other DAR chicks
that were still on the refuge. These six stayed together the
rest of the week. They roosted each night at Site 3 with adult
female #102. This DAR group moved around to other ponds on
or near the refuge during the day. They associated with adult
pairs #211/217 and #309*/403 sometimes. Other times they were
with Sandhills, or alone.
DAR
chicks #39-07, 37-07,
40-07,
42-07,
43-07,
and 44-07 roosted
with adult #102 on the night of Nov. 5. That's a good
sign that maybe they'll follow her south!
History
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Nov.
29 in Illinois. Click to enlarge.
Photo Richard Urbanek ICF Tracking Team
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First
Migration South: Nov.
6, 2007: The group of 6 DAR chicks joined
Whooping
Cranes #309 and 403 and sandhill cranes at
another spot on Necedah NWR. Several other adult Whooping
Cranes and
about 200 sandhill cranes were also nearby. And then the
6 young DAR birds did a surprising thing: they began migration,
all by themselves and with no adult whooper or sandhill crane
to lead the way! The chicks took off in 20 mph NNW winds
under
partly cloudy skies. They flew south 214 miles and landed
to roost in a small pond in a harvested cornfield in Peoria
County,
Illinois. They resumed migration Dec. 5 after their roost
pond became frozen. With tailwinds, they flew 167 miles and
landed to roost in Clinton County, Illinois. (See
their
map.)
On
December 11, 2007, the six off-course cranes were captured
and moved to Tennessee by the ICF tracking team so they could
easily find cranes to follow south. But on December 17, DAR
females 39-07 and 43-07 flew to Alabama. They stayed until
December 23, when they returned and wandered around the Hiwassee
area for the rest of December and into January.
Spring
2008 and First Unassisted Migration North: Began
migration March 16 from her wintering grounds in Meigs Co,
Tennessee along with DAR 37-07, 42-07, 43-07, 44-07, and
46-07. They made good progress, roosting for one night in
Adair County, Kentucky and then resuming migration the next
day to Clark County, Indiana. On March 21st, they continued
migration to Fayette County, Indiana. PTT
data (satellite data) for DAR 39-07, 44-07, and 46-07 indicated
they finally moved again on April 16. The group proceeded
to Tuscola County, Michigan. They were were stil there as of
mid May, despite some spring wandering. (On May 14 PTT readings
indicated that 39-07 moved to Gladwin County, Michigan. She
returned to the Tuscola County site by May 16 and so
had the other wanderers.) On June 2 trackers traveled
to the cranes' location to try to capture them all and bring
them back to Wisconsin. Only one crane, #37-07, was successfully
captured and returned. The tracking team returned June 10
and caught 39-07 and 2 others and brought them back to Wisconsin! She
wandered all summer, and spent time in southeastern Minnesota.
She
was with males #703 and
707, and female 42-07 (DAR)
Last
updated: 8/26/08
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