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Meet
the 2008 Whooping Crane Chicks!
Hatch-year 2008 of the Eastern Flock |
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Crane
# 804
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Date Hatched |
May 9, 2008 |
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Gender |
Male |
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Egg Source: Patuxent WRC |
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Permanent (Attached after reaching Florida)
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Personality and Training:
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| Photo Brian Clauss, Patuxent WRC |
Notes
from the captive breeding "hatchery" at Patuxent WRC
in Maryland:
This
chick has a huge personality. He already had a lot to say while still
in the egg!
Barb said, "When it was in the hatcher,
we would check on the egg by
making
crane vocalizations to assess its strength and progress. Each time I
did this, #4 just peeped and peeped and peeped. It was like a little
girl who had her phone privileges
taken away for a month and finally was able to talk on the phone again
to her girlfriends. Chick #4 did this before hatching and also after
being old enough to go to a pen. When I opened the door to the aviary
I could
hear #4 peeping, peeping, peeping in the pen. It seemed like #4 was just
waiting for someone to come so he could talk their ear off. Always the
little talker! At #4's first swimming exercise, he would paddle his
little legs the length of the pen like a true olympian.
Every so often #4 would stop for a brief rest at the pool's end, and
then get motoring along again like someone shot him out of a cannon.
Amazingly
enough, #4 had very little to say while in the pool as he concentrated
on moving the legs and not the little beak!
The Aviary is set up with pens lined up along both sides of a long aisle. One day Barb heard two chicks peeping back and forth across the aisle to each other. Then she saw the tiny little shape of #804 in the left pen, and #807 standing directly across in the right side pen. Both little chicks were standing at their doorways peeping back and forth to each other. Both had so much to say!
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| Bees
were a problem at the refuge and 804 was stung. The bee sting made
his beak get out of line, but it was soon back to normal. Photo Operation Migration |
Chick #804 was always near the front of his group during training, and paid good attention.
Notes from "flight school" at Necedah NWR in Wisconsin:
Arrived at Necedah NWR on June 25 with the first group of the Class of 2008. By mid July he and #803, the two oldest birds, were starting to fly in ground effect. On Aug. 10 Bev took the group to the marsh where they would be out of sight while the runway grass was cut. Bev said “804 became the most adventuresome of the group and wandered the farthest. At one point he tried climbing up on a very small tussock that gave him that perfect ‘king of the hill’ position. The tussock proved to be too small and too wobbly, so 804 was soon back in the water.”
On Aug. 15th, pilot Richard reported that new flier #804 took his first first full circuit with the trike (along with #803 and 805)! On the Sept. 2 health check he weighed 6.6 kg.
Last updated: 9/04/08
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