Whooping Crane
 

Still Way Too Windy (+0 Miles)
November 8, 2010: Migration Day 30

Photo: USFWS
Migrating wild family with twins in South Dakota Nov. 4, 2010.

Wrong-way winds pin the team to the ground for day two in Piatt County, Illinois. But wait! We have other GREAT migration news to celebrate:

  • Tracker Eva says wild-hatched chick W3-10 and her parents (#212 and #419) began their journey south on November 4. On day one they flew all the way to the parents' usual stop in Greene County, INDIANA!
  • Today's photo shows a wild family with twins on the morning of November 4 at a migration stop in Brown County, South Dakota. They are on their way to Texas — where another family with twins has already arrived! From the Western Flock's winter home in Texas, biologist Tom Stehn sent the joyful news. He estimated the known number of whoopers at Aransas as 23+6=29 as of Nov. 5, adding "The actual number could easily be triple that." Migration is in full swing!

In the Classroom: Journal or Discussion

  • (a) The birds migrate south every autumn. How many times have W3's parents made the journey south in their lifetimes? How many autumns has each parent lived? HINT: Each bird's age is indicated in its number-name. For all the older birds, the first number is their hatch year (system used until now by Operation Migration). For birds hatched starting in 2010, the hatch year is the second part of their name (system always used by WCEP and now joined by Operation Migration in 2010).
  • (b-for-bonus): The distance from W3's home to Green County is at least 300 miles. How does the family's one day of progress compare with the ultralight cranes' 30 days of progress? Why can wild cranes fly farther and faster than the ultra-cranes and planes? This page can help you answer.

Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure presented in cooperation with the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).

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