Capture! By Sara Zimorski, ICF March 6, 2003 Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, Florida Sara rides the airboat to check on the cranes. Photo ICF Problems That Need Solutions Every day we turn on the receiver and listen to the signals coming from each bird?s radio to make sure they?re still working properly. Several weeks ago we noticed #211?s radio signal was very weak; the radio was malfunctioning and would need to be replaced before spring migration. Tuesday night (March 4) was the night and #211 was the first bird up. Apparently, he didn?t want to go first because he was quite wary as soon as we entered the pen, and it took several minutes of slow stalking before I could get close enough to grab him. The old bands and radio were removed and new ones were applied. Crane #216 was second in line, not because he needed a new radio but because of a minor injury to the tip of his beak that our veterinarian wanted to examine. Crane #203 was appropriately third in line; her radio works just fine, but she had cracked one of her color bands during the fall migration and it had since fallen off and needed to be replaced. Once we had her in hand, we noticed a second color band was also cracked, so that was also replaced. Yearling Crane #105, from the first group (2001), was the final bird we handled. He was definitely the easiest to catch, mostly because he acts tough, strutting and threatening right next to us. Cranes Carry On It was interesting watching the reaction of the other birds as we caught and walked off with their flock mates. Initially they scattered away from us and alarm called, but then they followed us as we walked out of the pen. The alarm calls of the group are sounding much more impressive these days since almost half the chicks have their adult voices: #201, #202, # 204, #207, # 208, #214, and# 218. Crane #209 followed us closely, actually getting ahead of us to peck the feet of the bird being carried out. Crane #209 is a small and low-ranking female in the group, and seemed to be taking advantage of the rare situation where she could jab at another bird and they wouldn?t or couldn?t fight back. Part of me wanted to laugh at how funny she was being, but I also felt bad for the poor bird in my arms who was already scared and stressed enough, without having its feet pecked. Any More Captures? This is the last time we're planning on handling the birds. However, if another bird's radio were to stop working between now and migration, we would go ahead and replace that as well. In the future we will try and catch birds and replace radios that have stopped working. The radio on yearling #102 (from Hatch Year 2001) no longer works, so we're very glad she's stayed with yearling #101, whose radio does work. We plan to try and catch yearling #102 sometime this spring or summer at Necedah. Handled With Care I think being handled is stressful to them. But we're very careful in how we hold them and we try to make it as short a time as possible. It's always a bit nervewracking to handle these birds, but we all have lots of experience and we only do it when we must. We do keep a hood over their head so the doctor and Richard can see what they're doing without having to wear the costume. I think the quiet and darkness from the hood helps keep the birds calm. Try This! Journaling Question Why do you think these Whooping Cranes aren't named, like the manatees tracked in other Journey North reports, or the whale you saw in Free Willy?   Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP). Facebook Pinterest Twitter © 1997 – 2019 Journey North. All rights reserved.