Which Cranes Get PTTs? By Sara Zimorski, ICF In the Beginning. . . At first we put PTTs on the largest males and largest females since these birds would have to wear/carry two transmitters, one on each leg (a radio transmitter on one leg and the PTT on the other).  Sara holds a crane chick during a health exam.   Photo WCEP A Platform Transmitter Terminal (PTT) is a satellite tracking device that can be worn by an animal so its location is known. Photo WCEP Crane #208 with PTT on his right leg and radio transmitter on the left leg (red/white). Photo Sara Zimorski, ICF Learning From Experience By the time we were raising the 2003 birds, the tracking and monitoring data clearly showed that the males tend to come right back to Necedah and the females wander and sometimes settle farther away. We therefore decided to put PTTs only on females. A PTT was almost wasted on a male that came right back to and settled down at Necedah, but might be very useful on a female that wandered into MN or IL or wherever. Again, because the bird would be carrying two transmitters, we chose to put them on the largest females. In 2003 we didn't have that many females to choose from; we certainly weren't going to put one on #303, who’d had a leg injury and surgery to correct it. Special Cases In 2004 we only had 4 females and 3 PTTs available, so the youngest and smallest bird (#420) wasn't going to get one. Unfortunately #406, one of the few females, died. We were left with only 3 females, and each of them received a PTT during the banding and health check that took place after their arrival at Chassahowitzka. As for male #418, he was the first supplemental release bird in the Eastern flock. We didn't know what he would do or what might happen to him as he migrated on his own, so we decided to be extra cautious and put a PTT on him. That way we would always know where he was--in case he ever got away from us during the regular tracking. And because he was the first in this new type of release it was very important to document his migration: where he went, when, and how. The information will help to justify doing more releases of this type, or the need for re-thinking the release strategy and method. Luckily #418 did super, and we're on track to start the supplemental release experiment in 2005.   This Season Teachers Kids Orientation Registration Search Copyright 1997-2008 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Questions or comments? Contact us.