[tn-bird] Tidbits From the Fledging of the FL Whooping Crane
- From: "Troy Ettel" <Troy.Ettel@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2002 10:38:26 -0500
As many of you are aware, one pair in the flock of the experimental,
nonmigratory flock of whooping cranes that have been released in FL
successfully fledged a chick this year. This was the first time a whooping
crane chick fledged in the wild in the United States since a chick fledged form
the nonmigratory flock in LA (now extirpated) in 1939.
However I wanted to pass along some interesting facts reported in this month's
"Unison Call" the newsletter of the North American Crane Working Group.
The whooping crane pair were first-time parents and at the young end of the
scale for parents, being not yet 4 years-of-age.
Of great interest to me was this fact about parental care/defense:
The pair hatched two chicks, but one was taken from the nest shortly after
hatching by a bald eagle. Following this event, the whooping cranes
tenaciously fought off repeated attacks by a pair of bald eagles culminating in
a final confrontation that resulted in one of the eagles being so severely
injured that it had to be picked up by a rehabilitator and treated for several
weeks before being released. The eagles were not seen at the marsh after this
incident.
The parents cranes also faced many confrontations with dogs. During these, one
adult would rush the dog while the other used the diversion to quickly slip
away with the chick.
FL has been in the throes of a great drought this year. As the drought
continued into the nesting season, the adults would continually rebuild the
nest platform, moving with the water level to ensure that a protective moat
also existed around the nest platform. It was not previously known that
whooping cranes would continue to build and move nest platforms after hatching.
Troy Ettel
State Ornithologist
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
P.O. Box 40747
Nashville, TN 37204
(615) 781-6653
Troy.Ettel@xxxxxxxxxxx
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