It’s not too often that we get to see one of North America’s rarest birds, and even less often that we get to see a wild-hatched chick! So far, not many chicks in this population have made it to fledging, and even fewer have made it to adulthood. The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) is working on figuring out why this is the case (see articles about black flies and nest abandonments and low chick survival), but in the meantime we celebrate the ones who do survive!
This past week when Amy and I arrived at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alabama, there were only a handful of Whooping Cranes on the refuge, much fewer than last year. However, similar to last year when Sloane and I seemed to keep stumbling upon new arrivals, another group showed up while we were here this year! This time it was the family, 9-03, 3-04, and W18-15. In years past, 9-03 and 3-04 have wintered either in Illinois or in Alabama (at Wheeler NWR). This year, they spent the past month or so at their wintering area in Illinois and just moved south to Alabama. This could definitely be due to colder temperatures and frozen water bodies at their more northern spot. While it’s not particularly warm in Alabama right now, the river and sloughs are still open, giving them places to safely roost.
On their breeding grounds at Necedah NWR in Wisconsin, this pair has nested every year since 2008. They have hatched 4 (possibly 5) chicks together in the wild, and 3 have made it to fledging! Let’s keep our fingers crossed for W18-15 and a successful breeding season again in 2016!
This past week when Amy and I arrived at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alabama, there were only a handful of Whooping Cranes on the refuge, much fewer than last year. However, similar to last year when Sloane and I seemed to keep stumbling upon new arrivals, another group showed up while we were here this year! This time it was the family, 9-03, 3-04, and W18-15. In years past, 9-03 and 3-04 have wintered either in Illinois or in Alabama (at Wheeler NWR). This year, they spent the past month or so at their wintering area in Illinois and just moved south to Alabama. This could definitely be due to colder temperatures and frozen water bodies at their more northern spot. While it’s not particularly warm in Alabama right now, the river and sloughs are still open, giving them places to safely roost.
On their breeding grounds at Necedah NWR in Wisconsin, this pair has nested every year since 2008. They have hatched 4 (possibly 5) chicks together in the wild, and 3 have made it to fledging! Let’s keep our fingers crossed for W18-15 and a successful breeding season again in 2016!