|
|
Meet
the New 2007 Whooping Crane Chicks! Hatch-year 2007 of the Eastern Flock |
|||||||||||||
|
Crane
# 724 |
||||||||||||||
| Date Hatched |
May 22, 2007 |
|||||||||||||
| Gender |
Male |
|||||||||||||
| |
Egg Source: Calgary Zoo |
|||||||||||||
Permanent Leg Bands Weight
09/05/07: |
|
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Personality and History
Migration Training: #724 cried and cried when he was moved from the Propagation Building to the Crane Chick Building in his first week of life. He'd get really angry at the puppet and wouldn't eat unless the puppet gave him his food. But he got over it and soon ate and drank well by himself. Chick #724 loved to flap his wings, but was sometimes aggressive to the other chicks. When we put the whole group together, 724 was the most aggressive (but has also since calmed down). Once 724 chased 721 out of the feed shed! He came to Wisconsin on July 3 in cohort 2, the group of 5 chicks between the oldest and the youngest. He was the largest of his group. By Juy 31 he could fly in ground effect for 100+ yards. On August 1 he and #722 got discouraged when they couldn't keep up with the trike and landed in the marsh to join up with an adult Whooping Crane. When they wouldn't come back on the runway to try again, Swamp Monster had to scare them out. Chick #724 got so scared that he bounded straight back to the trike, like running to a parent!
First Migration South: Chick #724 left Wisconsin for his first migration on October 13th, 2007. He flew the whole first leg of the journey and landed safely at Stopover #1! Find day-by-day news about the flock's migration and read more about #724 below.
Crane #724 doesn't "make waves." He minds his own business and does what he's supposed to. He doesn't get lost or resist coming out of the pen when the ultralight comes to pick up the birds. He's growing up into a fine Whooping Crane! (He was the biggest bird in cohort 2 and while at Necedah wasprobably the biggest of all. His bigger stature isn't as noticeable anymore on migration.)
He has completed every flight without dropping out even once.
Jan. 28, 2008: Migration complete!
Crane #724 had attained his adult voice by February, 2008.
Spring 2008, First Journey North: Began migration from Florida March 26 in a group of five (716, 717, 721, 724, and 726). They ended up in Calhoun County, Georgia for the night, about 220 miles north of their starting location. The next day, after a fog rolled through, the cranes resumed migration to Coffee County, Tennessee. On March 31, these five birds left Coffee County and were in Daviess County, Indiana that evening. They continued migration to Jefferson County, Wisconsin on April 16. On April 19 at 11:30 they arrived in the vicinity of Necedah NWR and proceeded to circle over portions of Juneau, Adams, Monroe, and Wood Counties before they landed on farmland along the Yellow River. Migration complete! (They didn't stay on Necedah NWR until April 21.)
 |
 |
| Fighting with a sandhill crane (far left) in Jefferson County, WI | April 19: HOME! Photos Eva Szyszkoski, ICF |
Fall 2008: Left Wisconsin on Nov. 20 in a large group. Not all of them stayed together, but on Nov. 24, crane #724 was in a group of eight (including #10-08, who was removed from the ultalight cohort) that reached the border of southern Illinois and southern Indiana. The group stayed together in Gibson County, Indiana until Dec. 21, when they moved to White County, Tennessee. On Dec. 22 he resumed migration from White County, TN and arrived in Cherokee County, Alabama with #511, 512, 716, DAR 46-07 and DAR 37-08. (Some cranes separated from the group that morning.) Completed migration sometime Dec. 28-31, where he was at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park in Alachua County, Florida. With him were first-timers #10-08 and DAR 37-08 and #511, 512, and 716.
Spring 2009: Began migration from Alachua County, Florida on March 10 (with 511 and 716). Migration stops were March 12 at Cherokee County, AL; March 16 at Coffee County, Tennessee; March 18-20 at Knox County, Indiana; March 21 at DeKalb County, Illinois. Recorded by datalogger on Necedah NWR March 22 and confirmed by March 25. He was last detected on June 26.
Fall 2009: Still missing (since June 26, 2009).
Summer 2010: Missing male #724 was presumed dead and removed from the total count of the Eastern flock.
Last updated: 8/9/10
Back to "Meet the Flock 2007"
Journey North is pleased to feature this educational
adventure made possible by the Whooping
Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).