Naming
System (*Changed in 2010)
Each bird that follows the ultralight on its first migration has a
number that becomes its "name" for its whole life.
The number tells something about the bird. The bird's hatch-order
number is first, with the hatch year at the end. That's why the first
chick to hatch in hatch year 2011 is named 1-11, the second is named
#2-11, and so on. Gaps in the number system happen
when a chick
dies, if a chick is kept and raised as a
breeding
bird
due to its
valuable genetics, or for other reasons.
*The
naming system is different for birds led south by ultralight in
the Classes of 2001-2009. In those years the first digit stood
for the hatch year and the last two digits indicated the hatching
order. In 2010 Operation Migration and Journey
North switched to follow the WCEP naming style described above,
which now applies to every bird in the reintroduced Eastern
Flock of
Migratory
Whooping
Cranes.
Birth
Place
Eggs were sent from captive breeding centers (or sometimes rescued
from a nest in the wild) to hatch in Maryland at Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center (PWRC). This
is a special place where rare birds are bred and raised in captivity.
The valuable eggs hatched in the care of experts. They were watched
and cared for very closely.
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Security
gate to PWRC captive breeding center |
Incubating
eggs
from captive whooping cranes |
Costumed
trainers use crane puppets to help train the new chicks . |
Summer
Home and "Flight School"
Before
they know how to fly, an airplane carries the little chicks to Wisconsin
for "flight school." They live at a wildlife refuge with
many acres of wetlands. In 2011, flight school was changed to a new
location called White River Marsh State Wildlife Area. (From 2001 until
2010 flight school was at Necedah
National Wildlife Refuge.)
They
are released in special pens where they'll be safe as they grow and
learn to fly. During training lessons, the chicks learn to follow the
ultralight planes. Then they learn to fly behind the tiny airplanes
that will teach them where to go when it's time for their very first
migration.
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A
private plane flies the chicks from Maryland to Wisconsin. |
Each
chick travels in its own tall box. |
Chicks
are released in a safe pen at "flight school" in Wisconsin. |
Winter
Homes
In October
these chicks will follow ultralight planes
to learn their migration route. They will leave Wisconsin
and fly to warmer Florida, with the ultralight
planes
leading
the
way.
(Chicks
hatched
in the wild learn the route the natural way: by following their parents.) When
they reach Florida, half of the Class of 2009 will land at
St. Marks National
Widlife
Refuge. The other half will keep going until they reach Chassahowitzka
NWR. Like other members of the new Eastern flock, the youngest crane-kids
will migrate back to Wisconsin each spring, and to Florida each fall.
(They may disperse to a wider range as they get older.)
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The
Eastern flock's Two Winter Homes
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Leg-band
Codes
Every
crane in the new Eastern flock wears leg bands on each leg. Like
names for humans, color-coded bands identify each crane for life. Detailed
histories are kept on each of these endangered birds, and the banding
codes help scientists tell the birds apart.
Legbands
also hold the battery-powered radio transmitter. A few of the
birds will get yet another band and transmitter (PTT)
for
satellite tracking. For more information, see Tracking
Cranes.
The
permanent bands with color codes are attached to the birds'
legs at the health checks after they arrive in Florida and before
the top net is removed from the pen for their final release.
Journey North is pleased to feature this educational
adventure made possible by the
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).