Meet the New Eastern Flock: Life Stories
Craniac Treasure Hunt Answers

We hope you enjoyed looking at and learning all about the Eastern Flock chicks. How easy was it to find the answers? What were the most interesting facts you discovered? What questions did you have as you read these bird-brained life stories?

Use this answer sheet to check your responses and discover fun facts!
Hatch Year 2001
Crane # ____
Which chick died in a windstorm on the very first ultralight-led journey south?
Until April 13, 2005, this elusive female had not been at Necedah NWR since May, 2002—after her first migration north.
This chick was removed from the flock and went to New Orleans Audubon Zoo. Did she survive 2005’s Hurricane Katrina?
Which chick was not allowed to fly most of the ultralight migration because of his behavior?

Hatch Year 2002
Crane # ____
She left Florida on her first journey north with all the rest of her flock, but hesitated and turned back alone. She made the migration by herself, wandering off track.
On Day 1 of his first journey south, this chick struck the ultralight while in flight. (What happened after that?)
Which female produced the first egg ever laid by cranes in the new Eastern flock?
She always wandered a lot. She was captured in fall 2005 (after 4 tries!) to have her radio-tracking battery replaced.

Hatch Year 2003
Crane # ____
Which crane was injured by a careless piece of litter: an aluminum can that got stuck on her bill during migration?
Read her story.
Which crane missed 186.6 miles of her ultralight migration because she’d had surgery to fix a broken knee?
Which adult crane spent the 2005-06 winter with this year’s ultralight chicks at the Florida pen?

309
Which 3 cranes finally figured out how to get around the huge obstacle of Lake Michigan, arriving in Wisconsin a few months later than their flock mates?
303, 312, 316
They reached their Wisconsin home on July 28, 2004. The following spring (2005), they migrated to Wisconsin with no problems.

Hatch Year 2004
Crane # ____
Which crane was a brave pioneer when the ultralights left Wisconsin without him and he followed wild cranes to Florida?
Which two yearlings (one-year-olds) were the first of their flock to reach Florida on their first solo migration south?

419 and 420
Which crane did not survive in Florida to make the first spring migration?
She left on her first unaided journey south Nov. 17 and was at her Florida home Nov. 26. She passed 3 male flock mates on the way.

Hatch Year 2005
Crane # ____
Which young crane was injured during flight on Day 5 of the first journey south?
The youngest chick, he didn't miss a single leg of the southward migration until the sad events of Nov. 10.
This little and sometimes sickly chick has a long story. He even got lost in the woods for a day in Wisconsin.
Which was the ONLY crane to fly with the ultralight pilots on January 9 when they tried moving the flock?

508
As chicks, these four were named Jumblies, Poe, Waldo and Maya.

DAR chicks 527, 528, 532, 533