Before any of the WCEP chicks are even hatched, they hear the sound of the machine they will someday follow on their first migration. Recordings of Operation Migration's three-wheeled ultra-light aircraft are played to eggs when they are 28 days old, about 2 days before they actually hatch. A recorded whooping crane brood call is played at the same time. The two sounds become background music to the developing chick. After the chicks hatch, the brood call is used whenever they are fed, but the brood call and ultra-light sounds are also played together at several times during the day. Before the chick ever meets the aircraft, it has become familiar with the aircraft's unique sound.

The picture on the left is WCEP #01 at one day old. The second picture is the same chick at 9 days of age.

Current Number of Chicks: 4

Earlier this week, WCEP chicks #01, #02, and #03 met the ultra-light face-to-face for the first time. #01 was 9 days old, and #02 and #03 were 8 days old. The next day, chick #05 met the trike when he was 7 days old. When the training begins depends on the weather, the chick's individual development, and the staff's schedule. The aircraft we use belongs to Operation Migration, but stays at Patuxent for training purposes. It isn't actually used on migration. It also doesn't have real wings. The ultra-lights have large wings which are impractical to use for training. However, the chicks must get used to seeing something hovering over the trike, something that is suspended over their heads, has a similar shape to the real wings, and that casts a moving shadow on the ground. So, we constructed a small set of canvas wings, which didn't make the trike too cumbersome to use or store, but still gave a familiar silhouette to the aircraft. 

The circular training pen--the circle pen for short--is constructed of 2 foot high soft-coated wire, with a smaller circle inside it to make sure the chicks follow the plane instead of taking a short cut across the center of the ring. The fenced-in circle pen keeps the chick safe from the wheels of the craft. 

By the time the chick is walked out to the circle pen for the first time, he has been taken out for exercise several times. He's used to following costumed technicians holding a crane puppet head and playing a crane brood call. The technicians who train the chicks to follow the trike use a different kind of crane head, one with a neck long enough to reach from the trike into the circle pen. Using the brood call and this long-necked puppet, the tech urges the chick to follow him, which the chick is already used to doing. The puppet head with the extra-long neck is called "robo-crane", since it has a special tube running down the length of the neck that holds mealworms. The technician can pull a trigger and a small trap door in the throat of the puppet head will open and drop a few mealworms on the ground. The technician uses the puppet to mimic a real crane's behavior, and probes at the mealworms it has just dropped, showing them to the chick. Most of the chicks consider the live mealworms a special treat and will eat them readily. They're an excellent training tool, and help the chicks bond with robo-crane. It also gives the chick a positive experience when dealing with the noisy trike. It doesn't take long for the chicks to get very comfortable in the presence of the trike, and to concentrate on the robo-crane head and its rewards instead of the trike's loud rotating blades.

Training with the trike will continue daily (as weather permits) until the chicks leave Patuxent for Necedah NWR. 

#01 follows Dan out to the circle pen for the first time. 

Little #01 (by the black arrow) follows the trike around the circle pen.

#01 does very well for the first training session and follows Dan and robo-crane back to his pen.

Follow the progress of our whooper chicks through our weekly webpage updates. Most of the focus will be on the progress of the WCEP chicks as they hatch and grow and start "ground school" here at Patuxent. It's the most exciting time of year for us, and we hope that by keeping our page current, you can share that excitement with us. 

Swimming for Strong Legs

From the time crane chicks in the wild hatch, they start to swim. Chicks in the wild have to stay very active to keep up with their long-legged parents, and spend a lot of time both walking and swimming through their wet land environment. Trying to emulate the rigorous activity of cranes in the wild is not really practical in a captive rearing environment, but making sure chicks get enough exercise to grow into healthy adults is critical. 

Chicks that don't get enough exercise can develop serious leg problems since they grow so quickly. Chicks are usually exercised daily (weather permitting) by walking, including training activities with the trike. They are also often exercised by swimming. Swimming exercise involves having the chick follow a costumed technician carrying a puppet head and playing a brood call. Also, crickets can be tossed in the pool for the chick to pursue and catch. Some forms of leg problems can be corrected or improved through swimming.