THE WHOOPING CRANE REPORT: 21 |
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Ernie (foreground) and Kate (background) unison call in their pen at Patuxent. Photo by Jane Nicolich, USGS.
Ernie (on the left) and Kate (on the right) strut across their pen, declaring their territorial claim. Photo by Jane Nicolich, USGS.
Kate stands in her pen and displays her red crown, a subtle threat to the photographer. Photo by Jane Nicolich, USGS.
Lucky has already lost a lot of his brown feathers and replaced them with white ones. His coloring will continue to change over the next year until he's all white. He is standing on one leg in a marsh in Florida. Photo by Steve Nesbitt, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Chicks raised at Patuxent interact during their training at Necedah, Wisconsin. Photo by Heather Ray, Operation Migration. |
The Breeding Pairs -- Kate and Ernie Both Kate and Ernie hatched in 1983, making them both 19 years old. Kate was hatched at Patuxent from an egg that came from the wild flock in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. Ernie was hatched from an egg produced at Patuxent from Canus and Mrs. C. (See report about Canus). Kate and Ernie have been paired since 1985. They are a naturally fertile pair, but have a tendency to have poor fertility. Kate has been laying fertile eggs since 1994. In their early egg-laying years, Kate and Ernie exhibited egg-breaking behavior, a problem that is not unusual among captive birds. They have been growing out of that problem and are becoming better incubators and better parents. They currently have six offspring still living in Florida. One of these offspring is Lucky, who is the first whooper chick to fledge in the wild in 60 years. Kate and Ernie are Lucky's grandparents. This year, they produced three chicks for the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) program. Those three chicks are currently in Necedah, Wisconsin getting ready for this year's migration. Kate and Ernie are excellent parents who vigorously defend their territory. Their protective attitude can be seen in these pictures, as they unison call, strut-walk, and show their crowns, all of which are threat displays cranes use on other cranes to get them to leave their territory. Kate and Ernie are both named after Ernie Kuyt, the Canadian biologist who collected the wild whooper eggs that were brought to Patuxent to develop the captive breeding flock. "Kate" is a play-on-words with Ernie's last name, Kuyt. The Space Coast Birding Conference in Florida holds a whooping crane tour during its festival. This year it will also have speakers from The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and from Patuxent to present seminars on the history of Patuxent, and on current topics involving the two whooper release programs. The web address is: http://www.nbbd.com/fly/ ________________________________________________________ FLORIDA UPDATE: Lucky continues to do well in Florida. He's still traveling with his parents, which he should continue to do at least until next breeding season. Interesting Note: Lucky's grandparents are Kate and Ernie, who are highlighted on this page. ________________________________________________________ WISCONSIN UPDATE: The 17 whooper chicks reared at Patuxent continue to develop and are doing well in their training. The team had hoped to begin migration on October 10, but weather caused a delay. You can check on when the actual migration begins, and follow the chicks' progress at: The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership website: http://www.bringbackthecranes.org and also at Operation Migration's website: http://www.operationmigration.org ________________________________________________________ Please check our site on December 12th for a web page update. See our Crane Videos!
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Click here to ask questions about Patuxent's whooping crane program. Please check our site on December 12th for a web page update!
Whooping Crane Reports| 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
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21 |
Hatch Day (Click on numbered links to view all other egg (negative numbers) and chick days).
Other Patuxent Crane Information
