Personality and Training:

Notes from the captive breeding "hatchery" at Patuxent WRC in Maryland:
He was a good follower but then picked up the bad habit of mucking about for bugs and worms — which was probably more fun! Still, he is one of the GOOD birds. Even though #828 likes to do the "I'm bigger than you" game with the other birds in the youngest group, he causes no real problems. Barb says they see just the normal heiarchial interactions that normally occur in a group. As they prepared to leave for Wisconsin, he was not ready to give up challenging #829 to be the dominant bird in this group and he could still be "pecky."

Notes from "flight school in Wisconsin:
Arrived at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge July 29 in cohort 3, the youngest group in the Class of 2008. He sometimes stands up to #829, the "king" in this group, but #828 always backs down and slinks away from this more dominant bird. He weighed 4.7 kg at his pre-migration health check. Heather calls him part of the “Zoo Posse” because the egg he hatched from comes from the Calgary Zoo (along with 827, 829 & 830) and they’re all nearly the same age.

First Migration South: Chick #828 left Necedah NWR for his first migration on October 17, 2008. He proved to be a strong flier! Find day-by-day news about the flock's migration and read more about #828 below.

November 21, Day 36: Crane #828 and 12 others flew with Brooke over the Twin Groves wind farm with no problems at 2,000 feet altitude. They flew 114 miles! Today's lead pilot Brooke summed it up: "I don’t know if it was my imagination or what, but I swear our birds looked as proud of themselves as we were of them. They had been in the air 2 hours and 20 minutes, withstood teen temperatures the whole flight, and performed beyond our greatest expectations."

Photo Joe Duff, Operation Migration

January 9, Day 74: After being grounded for 9 days in a row, #828 was one of the seven dropouts when they left Chilton County, Alabama. He was crated and driven for the second (Day 57) time during this migration.

January 17, Day 82: Migration to St. Marks NWR Complete (cranes 805, 812, 813, 826, 828, 829 and 830)!