WHOOPING CRANE CHICK: DAY 06

        Photo by G. Olsen, USFWS

Photos USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Canus was the first whooper to live at Patuxent, and he's also the oldest. He's 36 years old. He was hatched in the wild in Canada, but was injured when he was as young as the chick in this picture. He had broken his wing and couldn't fly. He was rescued by biologists. His name is a combination of CANada and the U.S. He's a living symbol of the history of cooperation between our two countries to save the whooping crane. Canus is the father of Shelly, our chick's mother. He is the foundation of Patuxent's breeding program and has grandchildren living wild in Florida today. Canus and his mate raise a whooper chick every year.

In the pictures on the left, Canus performs some classic whooper threat displays. Even though he was raised in the wild, Canus has never been afraid of humans. In crane language, he is telling other birds -- or in this case, the photographer -- that they'd better leave his territory.

Check on our chick tomorrow!

Cool Facts:

At around 40 days of age our chick will grow feathers that are cinnamon and white in color, and he'll have black wing tips.
After a year of age, he will be pure white with black wing tips and black facial markings. The top of his head will be covered with bright red skin with spare black feathers. This is called a "crown."

 See this page for more cool facts each day.

Click here to ask questions about our chick or Patuxent's crane program. 

We plan to let you know the outcome of the voting for the chick's name on Monday!