Lucky--A Wild Whooping Crane From Hatch to First Flight

I came across this video while reading Operation Migration's Field Journal, a great place to visit and keep abreast of what's happening with our whooping crane population, as well as, other conservation news.  There are also other organizations involved with whooping crane conservation, among them, the Whooping Crane Conservation Association where you can find a whole collection of videos on the subject.

In the seldom seen video below you will see the story of the wild whooping crane chick, Lucky, as the footage follows him from hatching to first flight.  It is the stuff of goose-bumps and in the end, may move you to tears.

Marty Folk, Florida US Fish and Wildlife biologist, describes Lucky:  "This 2002 chick was the first Whooping crane to fledge in the wild in the United States in 63 years (all others had fledged in Canada).  Not only had Lucky become the first whooping crane to fledge in the wild in the US since 1939, he was the first whooping crane to fledge as a result of a reintroduction of this species.  Landowners adjacent to the nest marsh named the chick "Lucky" largely due to the fact that there were many attempts by predators to catch the chick."  You will see one of them in the video.

Whooping cranes and sandhill cranes are the only two true cranes that live in North America and whooping cranes remain on the Endangered Species list.  The spring nest count for the original wild migrating population at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada recorded a record 75 nests this season, one more than previously reported in 2010.  Another survey will be conducted in August to determine nest productivity.  In 2010, the census taken at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, where these birds winter, reported a total of 257 wild endangered whooping cranes.  The eastern reintroduced population, that migrates from Wisconsin to Florida, currently numbers 103.

A sub-adult whooping crane foraging at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.  Photo by Vickie Henderson

Links and Resources:

More videos at the Whooping Crane Conservation Association
My coloring book pages found at the Whooping Crane Conservation website.