First whooping cranes hatch in wild in Midwest

Necedah, Wis. – July 6, 2006 – Two whooping crane chicks hatched on June 22 at a Wisconsin wildlife refuge, marking the first time in over 100 years that a whooping crane has hatched in the wild in the Midwest. Later this fall, the chicks will be led by an ultralight surrogate to Florida to teach the young cranes the migration route. Read about last year’s migration. "With the hatching of the first two wild chicks from the migratory whooping crane reintroduction, another chapter in wildlife history has been made,” said John Christian, co-chair of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. “The journey took six long years of dedication, vision and believing it could happen — as well as the blood, sweat and occasional tears of the many partners that worked on the project.” In May, another first occurred when two whooping crane chicks from a nest in the wild hatched in captivity. WCEP biologists removed the two eggs from a nest at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge after their parents left the newly laid eggs and didn’t return. One of those chicks, hatched at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., as well as seven other chicks from Patuxent, arrived at Necedah on June 27 and will be taught to follow an ultralight before the fall migration. Biologists from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have also begun releasing additional chicks into the company of older birds at Necedah. These chicks will learn the migration route from adult whooping cranes or sandhill cranes. In 2001, pilots from Operation Migration first led whooping crane chicks conditioned to follow their ultralight surrogates south from Wisconsin to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge on Florida’s Gulf coast. Each year since WCEP biologists and pilots have conditioned and guided additional groups of young cranes. Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today, only about 300 birds exist in the wild. Aside from the 63 Wisconsin-Florida birds, the only other migrating population of whooping cranes nests at the Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada and winters at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Whooping cranes at a glance They are named for their loud unison calls. To listen to their call, click here. They live and breed in wetlands. They feed on crabs, clams, frogs and aquatic plants. They stand 5-feet tall, have white bodies, black wing tips and red crowns on their heads.

Whooping cranes follow the lead of a bird-shaped ultralight as they learn the pattern of migration. Two whooping cranes making history in the Midwest. Photos courtesy of USFWS; Richard Urbanek For More Information Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership Nacedah National Wildlife Refuge International Crane Foundation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Operation Migration Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

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