Photo: Operation Migration	Meet the 2009 Whooping Crane Chicks! Hatch-year 2009 of the Eastern Flock
	Crane # 915
	Date Hatched	May 16, 2009
	Gender	Female
	Egg Source	Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC)
	Permanent Leg Bands (Attached after reaching Florida)	Left Leg Right Leg         *Juvenile band: Green (*pre-ship health check at PWRC)
	Read about the naming system, hatch place in Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering site in Florida, and leg-band codes.

Personality, Early Training
Notes from the captive breeding "hatchery" at Patuxent WRC in Maryland:

On May 23 trainers Barb and Bev watched 915 on a remote camera as she put herself to bed. "She was still motoring around her pen, taking a couple of drinks from her water jug, frustrating Barb and I that she wouldn’t settle down. And just like the toddler she is, after one last drink, she walked under her brood model (adult crane model) and flopped to a lying position. She fought a valiant battle against the sandman, but soon she could no longer keep her eyes open and her head was on the ground. After a couple of nods, she was off to dreamland."

During training sessions at Patuxent, little 915 and 916 seem to always be in tune and totally at ease with each another.

July training in Wisconsin Photo Operation Migration

Notes of Flight School in Wisconsin:
She was flown to Wisconsin with Cohort #2 chicks on July 2. Chick 915 and all the others settled into their new pen just fine! The next day they trained with the trike on the grassy runway (with their old pal, Robo-crane). The chicks run, hop and flap but cannot yet fly. However, by the end of July the cohort #2 birds were all flying in ground effect, a few feet off the grassy strip, and close to gaining good altitude. Chick #915 is a good flock member.

Bev reported on August 10 that the mid-aged birds (Cohort 2, at the West site) are the most independent group. This is obvious during training, and at the evening roost check, when the handlers stand in the pen for several moments before they lazily wander over—and 915 is always first to enter the dry pen where the handlers give each chick a good look to be sure everything's okay.

To Geoff, #915 seems like the "good egg" of the bunch. She's the first out the gate to fly with the ultralight, the first to come get her meds. She really likes the costume.

Back to "Meet the Flock 2009"

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