This year while we were in the area, there were two groups of cranes, one with five members (including the chick), and the other with four. In the beginning of the winter, the group of 5 were reported fairly regularly, the chick being among them. Recently, we’ve had a couple reports of four birds in the area all of which were adults. This was possibly the other group, or possibly one bird in the group of 5 wasn’t visible and the photos were from too far away to see leg bands. In either case, it led us to wonder if W10-15 was still alive.
When we arrived, we followed a signal for a pair we knew to be in the area, 24-09 and 42-09. As we were parked, attempting to read leg bands, another head popped up! Then another, and another! Pretty soon we could see 7 different Whooping Cranes. (We later found two more.) I frantically thumbed through our binder and started programming our receiver as Amy patiently read leg bands. We had accounted for 5 birds, including W10-15, but couldn’t read bands on the other two. We listened for signals from all of the birds we expected to winter in this area, but came up short. As a last resort before we just waited to see if they came closer, I started plugging in all of the frequencies for all of the Whooping Cranes in this population, starting with the oldest birds. It didn’t take long before we heard a signal for 13-02! How strange! 13-02 and 18-02 typically winter at Wheeler NWR in northern Alabama, and had been seen there earlier this year. As far as we know, they have never wintered in Kentucky, which left us wondering why and how they had found this spot.
W10-15 has lost most of his/her cinnamon coloring by now. A bit of it remains in the back of his/her head and neck, but chicks are typically in adult plumage by summer. Like W18-15, W10-15 has no leg bands or transmitter, as these two eluded their would-be capturers. Once spring migration is complete and they return to the breeding grounds, their parents will start getting ready for a new nesting season as the chicks begin their wandering period. Once they aren’t with their parents, we will have two identical, unbanded Whooping Cranes, unsure of which is which. In order to understand the movements and behaviors of this population as well as what may or may not be contributing to its survival, it is awfully helpful to be able to tell individuals apart. For this reason, I hope we are able to band at least one of them, but for now, we’re just enjoying our amazing luck at being able to see two signs of hope for this population!