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Meet
the 2008 Whooping Crane Chicks!
Hatch-year 2008 of the Eastern Flock |
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Crane
# 811
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Date Hatched |
May 17, 2008 |
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Gender |
Female |
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Egg Source: #313 and #318 |
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Permanent (Attached after reaching Florida)
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Personality
and Training
Notes
from the captive breeding "hatchery" at Patuxent WRC
in Maryland:
Chick
#811 is a full sibling of #810.
Both were collected as eggs from the parents' abandoned nest at Necedah
National Wildlife Refuge and then shipped to Maryland to hatch. Barb
said #811 sounded weak when in the egg. Her peep could barely be heard,
and they
worried
that
the chick would be too
weak
to hatch
without help. But then all of a sudden when no one was looking,
#811 hatched out all on her own. She was still weak but gained strength
and soon became
a strong member of
the Class of 2008. She is extremely cute, and loves to take a bath
in the pond. She is a good little swimmer. Enjoys the outdoors and
a sweet personality. She is content to just sit at the edge of
the pond and preen her cute little belly all day long in between
foraging
and
eating juicy little bugs. She was afraid of tall flowers on her outdoor
walks! Said Barb, "Her brother, #810, would at
times take a poke at #11, but #11 had a loner little personality that
normally
kept her away from
the
action.
She didn’t care so much about the costume, the trike or being
with the other birds in her first weeks. She did what she wanted, when
she wanted, in her own time and on her own terms, so she's not the
best little follower
of
the Class of 2008.
Notes
from flight school in Wisconsin:
She was
delivered to Wisconsin with cohort one on June 25 for flight school. On
the second day in Wisconsin, she was attacked by the aggressive #810. She
was taken to ICF to treat her injuries. Chick #811 recovered
and rejoined
the flock but was moved to the friendlier cohort
#2 to continue her training.
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#811's
damaged feathers. She was under such physical and mental stress
after being attacked by #810 that the results showed up as
her feathers grew. Photo Richard van Heuvelen, Operation Migration |
By mid-July # 811 seemed quite happy now that she was among friendlier birds of Cohort two. This group was introduced to the wing of the aircraft on July 15. But #815 was being closely watched because of a respiratory issue. As August went on, she had some trouble keeping up due to loss of flight feathers in the fight with sibling #810 the day after they arrived at Necedah. If her feather problems affect her ability to fly or keep up during migration, #811 will have to stay behind for her own safety. If that happens she will probably be taken back to her hatching place at Patuxent WRC in Maryland to be a role model for future whooper chicks. However, 811 followed the trike well. She just lands early and usually has to be retrieved from the marsh. WCEP vet Dr. Barry Hartup confirmed that her feathers just can’t bear the load that they need to for sustained flight. Both the field team and the health team kept monitoring 811’s condition and progress. She weighed 4.6 kg at the September 3 health check.
On Sept. 9 #811 again could not keep up during the day's training flight and dropped out on the runway. With the other five strung out behind the trike, pilot Richard circled to let the stragglers catch up. Then, as we they flew past the pen site, #811 became airborne again and tried to catch up but just couldn't do it.
A New Life for #811
On
September 10 the team and doctors decided to remove #811 from the Class
of
2008. Because of poor feather development and being timid from being
handled
too much by the costumes, it’s
not very likely she could survive on her own in the wild. It is
even less
likely
she
could
make
the 1,285
mile
trip
with
her flock
mates, pointed out Joe Duff. Her bloodline is well represented in
the captive flock so she will be
given to a Zoo. "When she molts next year she will likely grow
a crop of perfect feathers," said Joe, "but display birds
are important too. They help
to educate
lots
of people and in
a round-about way, help to save the species from extinction."
On September 15, she was left behind when her cohort followed the ultralight over to join the youngest birds on Moving Day. She will eventually be a display bird in a zoo. "Until then," said pilot Joe Duff, "the Team will care for her and begin the taming down process. When the rest of her cohort left she didn’t even come out of the pen. She stayed in the back of the wet pen while the rest of them flew away. Birds don’t seem to like long goodbyes."
Last updated: 9/16/08
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