Whooping
Crane Migration Update:
February
27, 2004
Today's Report Includes:
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Whoopers
in Flight.
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AWhooping
crane has a 7-foot wingspan. How do your arms compare?
Photos OM
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Welcome
to Journey North's Spring Whooping Crane Migration Season
We begin our spring season while the world's only natural flock of endangered
whooping cranes is on the wintering grounds in Texas, and the tiny reintroduced
Eastern flock is wintering in Florida. These two migratory flocks usually
start migrating in April. Will this year's ultralight-led chicks find
their way? When will they leave? Will the Aransas flock's timing be as
predictable as in other years? We're all waiting to find out. Here's how
you can prepare for the migration:
In the meantime,
today's report will keep you busy! Get out your science journals, sharpen
your pencils and get to know the world's wild whoopers.
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Click
to enlarge fo a look at the leg bands. Can you identify the birds
by their banding
codes?
Photo OM |
Meet
the Flock: Challenge Question #1
Are you ready to track the first-ever journey north for the newest group
of "ultracranes?" Now's the time to get acquainted with them.
Journey North keeps a chart on each cohort, updating it throughout their
training and migrations. When you find the answers to the questions below,
you'll know who you're tracking this spring. Start with this season's
first Challenge Question after seeing:
Challenge
Question #1:
"Which birds from the 2003 ultralight migration are now wearing
satellite transmitters (PTTs)? Why do you think these birds were picked?"
(To
respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
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New
leg bands. Photo OM |
Ready,
Set, Go! Ten Questions for You and Your Science Journal
Dig a little deeper with more fun quizzers about the new Eastern flock.
You'll find the answers at Meet
the Flock 2003 and at the charts for the other two cohorts:
- What do
the 2003 birds that received satellite transmitters (PTTs) have in common?
- Which
of the 2003 birds flew every mile behind the ultalights, without ever
dropping out or turning back?
- How many
miles of the first journey south did Crane #303 miss? Why?
- Which
2003 bird was first to attain her adult voice? How many have their adult
voices now?
- Which
is the only crane from the 2002 cohort that did NOT return to Wisconsin
in spring 2003? Where did she spend the summer? Why do you think she
did this?
- Who do
you think is the dominant bird in the 2003 cohort? Why?
- Which
2001 male has been living at the pen site with the 2003 chicks and bossing
them around?
- Which
member of the 2001 cohort has not been seen for months, and cannot be
tracked?
- How did
one of the 2002 flock's members die last summer?
- How many
birds in the reintroduced Eastern flock will make the journey north
this spring?
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The
winter pen site at Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
Photo Richard Urbanek |
Florida
Photo Journal: Challenge Question #2
At dusk on Feb. 7, crane #214 glided into a landing at the winter pen
site in Chassahowitzka. She left her previous location in Madison County
to return to the site of her first winter in Florida. But a trio of near-adult
cranes aleady shared the pen site with the sixteen 2003 chicks, and the
older birds didn't exactly put out the welcome mat for #214. In fact,
#105 chased her. He once got close enough to pull out some feathers! ICF
biologist Marianne Wellington is one of the two crane experts monitoring
the cranes this winter. She can spot #105 even without binoculars because
his white feathers are dirty from so many crouch-threats in the mud as
he lies in wait to chase after #214. Marianne hears many more unison calls
from the trio of older birds since #214 showed up.
What else have the youngest members of the Eastern flock been up to all
winter? Take a photo tour of the Chassahowitzka pen site with us:
Then come
back and answer. . .
Challenge
Question #2:
"Why have the 3 near-adult cranes in the pen site been doing more
unison calling since latecomer #214 showed up?"
(To
respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
Tom
Stehn Reports: A Wonderful Year for Whoopers
Each year for 22 years, biologist Tom Stehn counts the whooping cranes
of the main flock on their wintering grounds at Aransas National Wildlife
Refuge in Texas. Winter is the only time of year when it is feasible to
get a total count of the flock. Even then, the cranes are spread out over
35 miles of the Texas coast, and it takes Tom nearly 8 hours in a small
airplane flying back and forth across narrow widths of salt marsh in order
to find and count all the cranes. He plots the birds on aerial photographs
that help him avoid counting the same bird twice. This year, Tom starts
his first report to us with these wonderful words:
Dear Journey
North,
2003 was a great year for whooping cranes!
As you read
Tom's good news, answer these questions:
- How many
chicks were fledged in the Aransas/Wood Buffalo wild flock last summer?
- How many
more whooping cranes exist now in the natural migratory flock than last
year? Than in the previous record high set four years ago?
- Why is
it so significant that 2 chicks fledged from 8 nests in the Florida
non-migratory population last year?
- What is
the survival rate (percentage) of whooping cranes that have made the
migration to Florida by following ultralight planes?
- What happens
to the chicks hatched by captive whooping cranes?
How
to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:
IMPORTANT:
Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.
1. Address
an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-crane@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge
Question #1 (OR #2).
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions
above.
The Next Crane Migration Update Will Be Posted on March 12, 2004.
Copyright 1996-2004 Journey
North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
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