My whooping crane biologist friends often refer to mature whooping cranes in the east as “white” birds, distinguishing them from juveniles.
The palette of cinnamon among new white feathers and black wing-tips is truly beautiful on whooping crane fledglings. Add to this combination a young peeping voice and magestic wings that span nearly seven feet and you have glimpsed some of the wonder of this tallest bird in North America.
Gradually, by the end of their first year, these young whooping cranes lose their cinnamon feathers and develop the facial mask that is characteristic of adults.
They also lose their peeping voice and develop the distinctive
whooping calls that earned this species its name, a call that can be heard as far away as two miles.
While visiting Necedah for
Cranefest, I had the enjoyable experience of touring the
refuge with several other Operation Migration
directors. Our knowledgeable guide and storyteller was Brook Pennypacker, Operation Migration
crew member, photographed here while wearing the costume that helps keep our captive-reared whooping cranes wild and unaccustomed to the human figure.
Among the other white birds we viewed was this family of trumpeter swans.
Not only was it a pleasant surprise to get a glimpse of this family, the photo itself was a surprise.
It was taken from a moving vehicle with the camera stretched across another passenger to access the open window. I have to give the credit here to my talented camera, the amazing Canon Rebel Xti!
There are three signets in the photo but you have to look a bit more carefully to find the third.
There were many wonderful things to see at the refuge that I missed and will look forward to seeing the next visit, among them the endangered gray wolves and karner blue butterflies.
But black-eyed Susans and blue asters were easily accessible, scattered along forest edges and meadows, never failing to catch my attention.
Soothing to the eye and close at hand, their splash of color complimented a rich landscape rapidly changing into fall foliage.
Hi Vickie!
ReplyDeleteLovely nature blog with full of great birds pics.
This is the first time that I know that birds can be train to fly like this juvenile whooping cranes.
Thank you, Tabib. I enjoyed visiting your blog.
ReplyDeleteImprinting makes this training possible. This method was first tested on Canada geese in the 80's and on sandhill cranes in the late 90's. The first migration with whooping cranes took place in 2001 and each fall a new class of "ultracranes" is trained to migrate in the east.
We now have a separate migrating population of whooping cranes to help insure that the species survives any natural or man-made disaster.
Our big challenge now is the mystery of nest failures.