Whooper Chicks Fly to Wisconsin -- With Help from a Private Jet!

The WCEP chicks had already been to "ground school" here at Patuxent. They did very well learning to follow the ultra-light. Now that they're at Necedah, they continue this ground-training as the WCEP crew waits for the birds to mature and start flying.

The five birds from last year's project--the birds who successfully migrated to Florida behind the ultralight and then returned to Necedah on their own--are still in the area. Their group has broken up. Three of the birds forage and roost alone or with other sandhill cranes.  The two other birds have been attracted to the area where the chicks are being trained.  Yet, all five are using good foraging and roosting habitat in Wisconsin.  Older birds usually don't like younger birds impinging on their territory, and clearly these older birds consider  Necedah theirs.  They were the first whoopers to live there. The "wildness" of these older birds is the result of hard work on the part of the WCEP crew. It could easily be undone by their developing a new association with humans now working with the young birds.

Since the WCEP crew can't afford to have the older birds become too accustomed to human activity around the training site, or to have those birds harass the young chicks, they've gone to some trouble to discourage them from visiting the area. This included creating a "swamp monster" out of a camouflage tarp and Mylar sheets, which rose up unexpectedly and made scary sounds. It's an effective technique which masks the human presence. At the same time it makes the birds think twice about hanging out and giving the new kids on the block a hard time. But the birds are curious, and continue to return. The crew captured the birds and tried separating and confining them to make them reluctant to return. That seems to have had a strong impact on the birds who, once freed, did not return the next morning. But the birds have strong attachments to the area. The crew expects them to come back again. This is a problem that they'll have to face in the future, as well, as more and more whoopers return to stake a claim at Necedah.

The oldest group of the 17 young birds is just becoming airborne now. They're able to fly behind the ultra-light for several minutes. On a recent flight, two of last year's birds joined the group in the air, flying with them off the wing. It only lasted a few seconds but it was an amazing sight as the pure white older birds joined with the cinnamon-and-white young-of-the-year birds. After a few seconds of flying with the ultra-light and the young birds, the older birds veered off and returned to the marsh. The crew suspects that in spite of their discouragement, they haven't seen the last of them. These are the kind of developments no one can predict. The solution to it will have to be creative.

You can read regular updates to the chick's training and progress at:

The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership website:

and also at Operation Migration's website:

For more interesting news and information about whoopers and the reintroduction effort, check out our other partner's websites at the bottom of our page.