Photo: Operation Migration	Meet the 2009 Whooping Crane Chicks! Hatch-year 2009 of the Eastern Flock
	Crane # 910
	Date Hatched	May 9, 2009
	Gender	Male
	Egg Source	Calgary Zoo, Canada
	Permanent Leg Bands (Attached after reaching Florida)	Left Leg Right Leg         *Juvenile band: White/white (*pre-ship health check at PWRC)
	Read about the naming system, hatch place in Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering site in Florida, and leg-band codes.

Personality, Early Training

#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.

Cohort 1 FLYING Aug. 17 Photo Bev Paulan, Operation Migration

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!

Back to "Meet the Flock 2009"

This Season Teachers Kids Orientation Registration Search
	Copyright 1997-2009 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Questions or comments? Contact us.