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Whooping Crane Preparing for Migration Keeping Crane Chicks Healthy Good health is important for whooping crane chicks, just like it is for you and me. After all, migrating across the country is no easy task! A healthy chick is more likely to survive the stresses of travel. The handlers can't control all the hazards, but they can try to keep the chicks in tip-top shape! Click on any picture to see a bigger one. Look carefully at the pictures. Whooping crane chicks get weighed each day for week after they're born. Then they're weighed each week before they migrate. How do you think this helps keep them healthy? (Find out what's happening.) Write a sentence that describes each of these photos. Explain how you think these activities help prepare chicks for migration. (Find out what's happening.) The handlers wear the costumes on the left to bring cranes in for a health check. How do the costumes compare with the ones they usually wear (bottom picture)? Why do you suppose they're different? (Find out what's happening.) No, it's not a turkey! Why do you suppose crane handlers put this hood over the bird's head for the pre-migration health checks? (Find out what's happening.) Do you like taking medicine? Cranes don't know it's good for them, and it's hard to get them to take it! Tell a partner how you might get cranes to take medication. What do you think these biologists know about what cranes need and like? How might they use this knowledge to tempt cranes to take medication? (Find out what's happening.) Photo Credits 1: Patuxent WRC 2/3: Photo Dan Sprague, Patuxent WRC 4-8: WCEP Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. Facebook Pinterest Twitter © 1997 – 2024 Journey North. All rights reserved.