Eggs Layed in Whooper Recovery Effort

A whooping crane experiment in the Eastern U-S has had its first hatch of eggs from migrating birds. But humans had to help. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A whooping crane experiment in the Eastern U.S has had its first hatch
of eggs from migrating birds. But humans had to help. The GLRC’s
Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Several migrating cranes laid eggs this spring at the Necedah National
Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin, but some eggs broke. So, wildlife
officials scooped up two intact eggs and eventually sent them to a
wildlife center in Maryland. The eggs recently hatched. Wildlife
agencies say it’s a huge step for the effort to create a migrating and
reproducing flock of whoopers in the Eastern U.S.


Joan Garland of the International Crane Foundation says that’s even
though the chicks were not hatched in the wild.


“We did sort of have to help these eggs out a little bit. We did remove
them from the nests and raise them in incubators, but at least they were
produced and part of their life was there in the wild in the nests at
Necedah.”


Garland says the two chicks will probably be sent back to the wildlife
refuge this summer, and there, they’ll be taught to fly south.


For the GLRC I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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A New Way for Whoopers

The whooping crane experiment in the Eastern U.S. is trying something new this fall. Wildlife officials hope some young birds will migrate south with older cranes… instead of behind ultralight aircraft. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

The whooping crane experiment in the Eastern U.S. is trying something new this fall.
Wildlife officials hope some young birds will migrate south with older cranes instead of
behind ultra light aircraft. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:


For five years, researchers trying to create a migrating flock of whooping cranes have had
younger birds follow ultra lights for the cranes first trip to Florida, but this year wildlife
officials also trained four young whoopers to associate with older cranes at their summer
nesting area in Wisconsin. The hope is the young birds will migrate with the older ones
and not need a human guide.


Larry Wargowsky manages the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. He says the effort
called, “Direct Autumn Release,” aims to better mimic nature and save money.


“The ultra light training is very time consuming, very expensive because you have a
group of people that are involved with it from day one all the way through to migration in
the fall, whereas the direct autumn release takes fewer people. You don’t need planes.”


Wargowsky predicts the ultra light aircraft will eventually be phased out of the whooping
crane reintroduction program.


For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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High Hopes for Whooping Crane Eggs

  • A baby whooping crane walks toward the camera. (Photo courtesy of the USGS)

Wildlife experts hope an experimental flock of whooping
cranes will lay more eggs this spring. The first egg produced during the experiment was recently found damaged. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Wildlife experts hope an experimental flock of whooping cranes
will lay more eggs this spring. The first egg produced during the
experiment was recently found damaged. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Scientists working on the project to develop 25 nesting pairs of
migrating whooping cranes in the eastern U.S. hope this is the year the
young cranes start to produce offspring.


But Michael Putnam of the
International Crane Foundation says one obstacle to the hatching of
crane eggs may be inexperienced parents.


“Once they do produce a fertile egg, then the birds have to exhibit the
right behaviors to tend the nest, incubate… and we’ve found some of
our birds- The females might be very good incubators at the
beginning, but it may take the male a year or two to catch on that’s
supposed to take a turn sittin’ on the egg.”


Putnam says other difficulties may include predators eating the eggs.
if the birds are successful, it’ll be the first whooping crane egg to
hatch in this part of North America in more than a century.


For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Ultra-Light Guides Whoopers South

A history-making flight of endangered whooping cranes could begin its trek over the Midwest soon. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach has the story:

Transcript

A historic flight of endangered whooping cranes could begin its trek over the Midwest soon. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach has the story.


A team of wildlife experts in central Wisconsin has been teaching some whooping crane chicks how to fly by using ultra-light aircraft. Now it’s time for at least eight of the birds to hopefully follow the planes to Florida. Pilot deke clark of the group operation migration says the pace of the flight will depend on the strength of the cranes each day.


“The birds will let you know. Pretty much the judgment will be made on how they stay with the aircraft and kind of formation they maintain.”


The cranes are expected to fly over Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, but could veer over adjoining states.


Scientists hope the birds will become the first migrating flock of whooping cranes in the Eastern United States. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Chuck Quirmbach reporting.