Fast-growing Baby
By four days of age, a Whooping crane chick can stand tall and walk well. The chick may stumble, but its legs get stronger and steadier with every hour. Whooper chicks have fluffy, dense coats of down, but no feathers yet. Their reddish cinnamon color changes to a rust-and-white mottled look as white feathers grow in. Chicks may grow an inch a day between 10 and 30 days of age! After that, their body growth slows. More energy goes into growing their adult feathers.

Image: Vickie Henderson