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Meet
the 2008 DAR Whooping Crane Chicks!
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Crane
DAR #35-08 (835D)
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Date Hatched |
June 25 , 2008 |
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Gender |
Female |
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Egg Source: |
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Permanent
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Personality
and History
From
the beginning this
chick was easily spooked. Whether another chick,
a loud noise, or a rustle in the bushes, she bolted if she sensed any
trouble. Sometimes even small, harmless things sent her running.
On August 9 she was happily foraging in the marsh in the company of the "costume" and flock mates 36-08 and 37-08. Adult pair #211 and #217 spotted them and started foraging closer. The adults came within 3 feet of the costume, making the chicks nervous. The adults unison-called to say "Get off our territory!" DAR 35-08 immediately stuck her head high in the air. The other two chicks chased and pecked at her tail, sending her running up a hill of tall grass. For for 20 more minutes the adults followed the costume and other two chicks , trying to drive them off their territory. Luckily, they flew off then they heard another Whooping crane further north. But where was DAR 35-08? With the mp3 player calling for the missing bird, the costume (and another costume who came to help) listened closely for her chirp and watched for any movement in the tall grass. After 40 minutes, they found her just a few feet away from where she was last seen! She was hiding the whole time, waiting for the trouble to pass.
She was released on Necedah NWR with #36-08 on October 18th. The next day these two as well as DAR #37-08 and #38-08 flew back to the site where they were all raised. A few days later,#35-08, 36-08 and 38-08 flew to the northern end of the refuge and joined up with flockmates #31-08 and #32-08. These five chicks remained together on the northern end of the refuge. Signals from the birds’ radio transmitters sometimes indicate that adult Whooping cranes may be interacting with these chicks, but their remote location means no one usually sees this.
| Weather
in Wisconsin is unusually warm. On November 1,
ICF Tracking Interns Eva Szyszkoski and Binga Elger
checked on the five DAR cranes located on a remote
part of the Necedah NWR. The area is quite difficult
to get to. Binga took this photo of the DAR cranes
and adult whooping crane #401. Many sandhill cranes
were also with the whooping cranes, but the sandhills
flushed when the costumed biologists entered the
scene. Photo Binga Elger, ICF |
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She separated from the group on November 3 and was likely killed the next day (Nov. 5). Her remains were found in a woods in a remote area of Necedah NWR. She had been the victim of an unknown predator. Pools and marshes north of Sprague Pool are mostly dry, which means unsafe roosting condtions for the cranes.
Last updated: 11/06/08
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