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Meet
the 2009 Whooping Crane Chicks!
Hatch-year
2009 of
the Eastern Flock
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Crane
# 910
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Date
Hatched |
May
9, 2009 |
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Gender |
Male |
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Egg
Source |
Calgary
Zoo, Canada |
Permanent
Leg Bands
(Attached
after reaching Florida)
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*Juvenile
band: White/white
(*pre-ship
health check at
PWRC)
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- Read
about the naming system, hatch place in
Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering
site in Florida, and leg-band codes.
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Personality, Early Training
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#910
in his pen while watched by Sadie, one of the Patuxent role-model
cranes.
Photo Operation Migration |
Notes from
the captive breeding "hatchery" at Patuxent WRC
in Maryland:
At first
chick 910 followed 905 like a shadow! He is also very cooperative
when following the trainer and puppet back
to his
pen after ground school training. He must like his pen. One day
when he saw his pen in the distance he started running for it! When outside,
910 likes picking apart a pile of dried grass in his ongoing search
for worms. He grabs a beak full, shakes it to shreds,
and
then goes into the leaf pile for another beak full.
He was soon
paired with 910 for socializing and soon they were spending days and
nights together, doing just fine in the pond, grass and pen. These
two will be part of Cohort One, the oldest and the first group of birds
to be shipped to Wisconsin for flight school before migration in October.
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Cohort
1 FLYING Aug. 17 Photo Bev Paulan, Operation Migration
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Notes
of Flight School in Wisconsin:
He was flown to Wisconsin with Cohort One chicks on June 25.
When they were finally led into their new pen, the tired 910 took a nap.
When they awoke, most of the chicks pecked at
their
new leg bands or even investigated the bands of other chicks. Female 901
and male 910 had a staring contest while they were standing next to each
other at
the
feeder, but one of them backed down and wandered away. That was as close
as they came to a conflict. All was peaceful on Day 1 in Wisconsin! In
the following weeks he proved to be a good student and, like all the
chicks in cohort one, he was flying by July 20. By
early August cohort one was flying circles over the training
areas. By
mid-August they were flying larger and longer circuits. He
gained strength and stamina with each practice session. When moving day
came on September 16, #910 flew alone with Brooke's ultralight the whole
way to the larger pen site where Cohorts One and Two were already living
together. Maybe he will remember how nice it was to be the only crane and
try for more "solo" flights with the ultralight!
October
11, 2009: Migration has not yet begun but the crane rodeo
has. The team hoped to combine training with a flight to a remote part
of the
refuge
that
was closer
to their
fist
stopover
site.
But the
Class of 2009 ended up at three different pen sites on the refuge,
and the team had to track and find some lost birds, including 910!
After dropping out of the morning flight, he wasn't found until late
afternoon when
Richard was airborne again. His radio picked up 910's signal
and quickly zoned in to his location. Richard saw #910 in a clearing
in the center of a wooded area to the north and west of the pen site
he'd
left this morning as the pilots tried to lead the birds away. Although
Richard tried to coax him into the air behind his ultralight, the bird
wouldn't follow. The only solution was for the crew to come
with
a
crate
to
box
him
up and
drive
him. They brought him to the old pen, where several of his classmates
were foraging. The rest of the flock is at the new site in a travel
pen. After a crazy day, he must
be
happy to be with some buddies again!
| First
Migration South: Chick #910 (and 14 others!) turned
back to Necedah NWR when the Class of 2009 left on their first
migration on October 16, 2009. They all had to try again the
next day to follow the ultralights to the migration's first stopover
site, where five flockmates landed on Day 1. Find day-by-day
news about the flock's migration and read more about #910
below. |
| Oct.
22: Chick 910 (and 913) didn’t want
to leave the wet pen to come out and exercise today. After some treats,
they ran out and flew a few circuits to join their flockmates
at the end of the runway by their Necedah pen. Then all eight stay-behind
birds were boxed up and driven to Stopover #1! Surprise! Chick 910
(and 913) were the last to go into the new travel pen because they
were excited to be running around and playing with clumps of grass.
Richard and Bev were very patient. Eventually they got the two
playful chicks into the pen. Brian stayed behind to watch over
the chicks, and to make
sure
they all settled in to their
portable home. At last all 20 are
together again and ready to migrate —when the rain goes away. |
Oct.
27: Crane 910
(and several others) turned back again to old Stopover #1 and
had to be boxed and driven to Stopover #2.
Nov.
1: Hooray! 910 (and ALL the others!) flew the distance
to Stopover #3. No crates needed! |
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Back
to "Meet the
Flock 2009"
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