Whooping Crane Naming System Birth Place Summer Home and "Flight School" Winter Homes Leg-band Codes This chick will get permanent leg bands at about age 7 months. Naming System Each bird that follows the ultralight on its first migration has a 3-digit number that becomes its "name" for its whole life. The number tells something about the bird. This year, the first digit (8) stands for the hatch year (2008). The last two digits stand for the order in which these chicks hatched. So, #803 hatched third of all the eggs. Gaps in the number system happen when a chick dies, if a chick is kept and raised as a breeding bird due to its valuable genetics, or for other reasons. Birth Place The chicks hatched in Maryland at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC). This is a special place where rare birds are bred and raised in captivity. The valuable eggs hatched in the care of experts. They were watched over very carefully. Security gate to PWRC captive breeding center Eggs from captive whooping cranes Costumed trainers use crane puppets to help train the new chicks . Summer Home and "Flight School" Before they know how to fly, an airplane carries the little chicks to Wisconsin for "flight school." They live at a wildlife refuge with many acres of wetlands. The name of the refuge is Necedah (say Nuh SEE duh) National Wildlife Refuge. They are released in special pens where they'll be safe as they learn to fly. During training they learn to follow the ultralight planes that will teach them where to go when it's time for their very first migration. The cranes will leave the refuge and fly to warmer Florida in fall, with the ultralight planes leading the way. (Chicks hatched in the wild learn the route by following their parents.) A private plane flies the chicks from Maryland to Wisconsin. Each chick travels in its own tall box. Chicks are released in a safe pen at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Winter Homes In October these chicks follow ultralight planes on their first migration to learn the way. They will go to winter homes in Florida. Until the Class of 2008 arrived, all chicks in the Eastern flock were taken to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. but the flock is growing, so the Class of 2008 was divided for TWO wintering areas. From now on, half the birds will go to St. Marks National Widlife Refuge. The other half will continue to go to Chassahowitzka NWR. Like other members of the new Eastern flock, the youngest crane-kids will migrate back to Wisconsin each spring, and to Florida each fall. (They may disperse as they get older.) The Eastern flock's Winter Homes Photo Operation Migration Leg-band Codes Every crane in the new Eastern flock wears leg bands on each leg. Like names for humans, color-coded bands identify each crane for life. Detailed histories are kept on each of these endangered birds, and the banding codes help scientists tell the birds apart. ICF's Sara Zimorski explains the colors: "Red, white, and green are the three brightest and most contrasting colors. They show up, are easy to tell apart, and are not easily confused with other colors. That's why Richard Urbanek chose them for our color scheme. As a bonus, each bird has all three colors so if we ever see a bird with only 2 colors we will immediately know a band was lost. (Only one bird has lost a band since the start of this project in 2001.)" Legbands also hold the battery-powered radio transmitter. A few of the birds will get yet another band and transmitter (PTT) for satellite tracking. For more information, see Tracking Cranes. The permanent bands with color codes are attached to the birds' legs at the health checks after they arrive in Florida and before the top net is removed from the pen for their final release. Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP). Facebook Pinterest Twitter © 1997 – 2024 Journey North. All rights reserved.