Meet the Class of 2012 Whooping Cranes
Hatch-year 2012 of the Eastern Flock
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Summer 2012: Crane chick #W1-12 was the first wild-hatched chick of the eastern flock's 2012 breeding season. The chick was photographed from the air by tracker Eva Szyszkoski on July , 2012:

Photo: Eva Szyszkoski/ICF, with aerial support from Lighthawk

Fall 2012: He migrated south with parents #212 and #419. The family is shown below in Indiana in December 2012.

Photo: Eva Szyszkoski, ICF

The parents did NOT continue migration to their usual winter territory in Pascoe County, Florida, but spent the winter in Indiana. The photo below was taken in February 2013 by Steve Smith. Female #419 at the left, chick #W1-12 in the middle, and father #212 on the right.

Photo: Eva Szyszkoski, ICF

Steve Smith photographed the family again March 12 at Goose Pond fish and Wildlife Area in Greene County, Indiana. The cranes' leg bands identify them as #19-10 DAR, male #212 (12-02), female #419 (19-04) and offspring W1-12, now a subadult.

W1-12 and his morther, female #419 (19094), on March 12 at Goose Pond, Indiana.

Photo: Steve Smith

Spring 2013: Sub-adult #W1-12 completed migration back to the Wisconsin nesting grounds on April 2 with her parents. She was reported near, but not on, her parents territory by mid April when they were already sitting on a new nest.

Fall 2013: W1-12 was found dead at the beginning of October during a flight by Wisconsin DNR. Also found dead the same day was #W8-12. The two yearling cranes were both heavily scavenged. They had last been observed alive during a DNR survey flight on September 9, 2013.