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Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle Jul 20, 2006 |
If you've been following my recent articles on birds and West Nile fever, Lyme disease, and avian flu, you may be feeling a little discouraged about birds but, on the whole, it's pretty certain that humans have done more harm to birds over the years than vice versa. Anyway, it's time for some good news about birds...
On June 22, something wonderful happened in Wisconsin: a pair of Whooping Crane chicks hatched in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. What made the chicks so special was that they were the first wild Whooping Cranes to hatch in the eastern United States in over a century. The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds (Firefly Books, 2003, pg 202) states that the only wild self-sustaining flock of Whooping Cranes spends its summers in Canada. Perhaps there will soon be another in Wisconsin.
Sixty-five years ago, the days of the Whooping Crane were almost done. Only about twenty birds were left when belated conservation efforts miraculously pulled them back from the brink of extinction. Today, Whopping Cranes are raised in captivity and trained to fly using ultralight aircraft (humans dressed as cranes fly the aircraft and teach Whooping Crane chicks how to fly, even leading them on their first migration south).
The twin Whooping Cranes born in the wild to parents dubbed #211 and #217, have been watched over from a respectful distance by staff at Operation Migration, an organization that raises Whooping Cranes and releases them into the wild. These folks are the de facto grandparents of the two little chicks. You can read the daily journal for Operation Migration at http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html (the journal covers the progress of the birds and chicks from the captive breeding program as well).
Although one chick frequently dies when twins hatch, both chicks of the famous "First Family" were doing well as of July 18.
Watch for more information on cranes in upcoming posts.
Related articles:
Bringing Whooping Cranes Back from Near Extinction