Chick season has started at Patuxent, and we already have 6 healthy chicks. It's hard to imagine these little chicks winging their way over America, but when they grow up they'll be part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) project -- the second group of birds that will be trained to fly behind an ultra-light aircraft. These little guys will be part of the second migratory flock, and we have high hopes that they'll be as successful as the first group of release birds.

The 7 original whoopers who, last year, successfully followed an ultra-light aircraft from Wisconsin to Florida, spent the winter in Florida. Unfortunately, 2 of the 7 succumbed to bobcat predation, but the other 5 did very well. On April 10th, they left Florida on their own for the return trip. Four of the five arrived in Wisconsin on April 19th, setting down about half a mile from their original departure site. The 5th bird had separated from the group some days before and followed her own separate flight path, which paralleled the other birds' flight pattern. The 5th bird also arrived in Wisconsin, but opted to settle in south-central Wisconsin away from the other 4. During the trip, all 5 whoopers wisely chose remote, open habitat, away from humans and predators. The journey north, which only took sub-adult cranes 9 days, contrasted with the human-led journey south, which had taken 50 days to accomplish with the then much-younger birds. The successful return of this first group of whoopers bodes well for future ultra-light migrations, as we attempt to create a flock of birds who will, we hope, eventually survive, reproduce, and travel back and forth with their own young over the route we've taught them.

You can read all about the whoopers' progress over the winter and on their migration back to Wisconsin at Operation Migration's Field Journal and at the WCEP updates. You can see a map of the migratory route that the birds took at this site. Other information and updates about the migratory birds can be found at WCEP's site.

News of the successful migration was very inspiring here at Patuxent. But now we have to focus on raising the next generation of cranes, both for the migratory project, and for the non-migratory flock of birds in Florida. We are hoping to produce 18 chicks for the WCEP project, and 6-8 for release in the non-migratory flock in Florida. However, the whooper pairs are still laying so it's too early to predict how many chicks we'll eventually have.

These first 6 chicks are keeping us plenty busy while we look forward to the next eggs to hatch.

Please check our site on June 6th for a web page update.

See our Crane Videos!

Already eager to wade hock-deep in the pond, this guy is getting a good start on his future as a migratory whooper. Every natural experience these young cranes have is another step on the way to making them successful release birds.

All photos by Carlyn Caldwell, 
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center