International Crane Foundation International Crane Foundation News

One fertile Whooping Crane egg has been layed by Whooping Cranes at ICF, and 17 fertile eggs collected from wild birds at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge have arrived as well:

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

Two more eggs have been layed by the Whoopers at ICF. 5 of the wild eggs have been moved to Freeport-McMoran Audubon Species Survival Center:

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

4 Whooping Crane chicks have hatched:

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

Two more Whooping Crane chicks have hatched, and one of the two fertile eggs layed by the ICF birds has been transferred to Milwaukee County Zoo:

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

The chicks have been named Nymeria, Wilding, Viserion, Bravos, Sir Davos and Kit. In addition, one more fertile Whooper eggs has been laid, as well as two fertile Hooded Crane eggs:

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

Two more unnamed Whooping Crane chicks have hatched. Nymeria, Wilding, Viserion, Bravos, Sir Davos, Kit, and one of the unnamed chicks will be released in Louisiana. The remaining chick will be released in Wisconsin.

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

Any idea/info on sex of individual. birds?

 

One more whooper chick has hatched to be released into the wild in Wisconsin. One more Hooded Crane chick has hatched; the two Hooded chicks have been named Hodor and Gilly.

Whooping Crane Egg Scorecard 2019 | International Crane Foundation

 

ICF has announced a reopening date - May 21 2021.

 

There are wild whoopers in Wisconsin

 

Yes I know, I've seen them many times. Did I suggest there weren't? Or did you mean that as a question?

 

QUOTE="birdsandbats, post: 1225922, member: 14724"]Yes I know, I've seen them many times. Did I suggest there weren't? Or did you mean that as a question?[/QUOTE]
I meant it as a question sorry

 

Yes, there are three breeding sites for Whooping Cranes in Wisconsin: Horicon Marsh, Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, and White River Marsh State Wildlife Area. I always see Whoopers at Necedah. I have about a 50% success rate with them at Horicon. I've only been to White River Marsh SWA once, I heard a Whooper but didn't see any.

Wisconsin birds migrate to Florida in the winter.

 

ICF's reopening date has been moved to May 1 2021.

Slidell, a female Gray Crowned Crane and probably my favorite individual crane at ICF, has been transferred to Brookfield Zoo:

It’s not goodbye…Grey Crowned Crane Slidell Moves to Brookfield Zoo - International Crane Foundation

 

Gee Whiz, the first Whooping Crane to ever hatch at ICF, died last month at the age of 38 :

Honoring Gee Whiz – a Father of Whooping Crane Conservation - International Crane Foundation

 

He was the only offspring of Tex, who was human imprinted and would only lay eggs if a male worker moved in with her for the nesting season. Gee Whiz was of course conceived through AI. Tex was killed by a marauding Raccoon around the same time

 

I visited yesterday and saw the new crane foundation for the first time. Visitors now follow a set path, and almost every species has a new habitat. Each one is excellent and these exhibits are all much larger than two old Pod Building yards combined. The only enclosures that remain the same are the yards for Blue Cranes, Wattled Cranes, Whooping Cranes, Gray Crowned Cranes, plus the old Black Crowned Crane yard (which now holds Demoiselle). Each species now has its own wetland, plus a tall grassy field. A couple of habitats are even walk-in. The signage has been redone for all of the species as well and is among the best zoo signage I have ever seen. I will upload photos to the gallery soon.

The Whooping, Black-necked, and White-necked Cranes were all on nests.

 

All of the photos are now uploaded.

 

A Whooping Crane egg laid at Stone Zoo was transported to ICF and recently hatched. The chick has been named Wampanoag.

 

Any follow up with their projects to reintroduce whooping cranes? I am following this with interest for some years.

Considering that groups of zoo-bred whooping cranes usually failed to develop into a wild insurance population. I wondered briefly if they could transplant some wild whooping cranes from Texas to another reserve? Experienced wild birds could be the best candidates to start an insurance population, develop a new migration route etc. Although they might also fly back to their old place.