Our captive Whooping Cranes are laying eggs – breeding season is here!
A tradition at the International Crane Foundation is to follow our “Egg Score Card,” which tracks the Whooping Crane eggs from our captive flock, as well as wild Whooping Crane nests in Wisconsin.
We’ll be posting updates to our score card on our website, Facebook, and Twitter pages, so check back often in the coming weeks to view our progress. Click here to learn how we raise Whooping Crane chicks at our headquarters in Wisconsin.
Whooping Crane eggs laid at the International Crane Foundation (6/15/15)
Total eggs: 37
Too soon to tell if fertile: 1
Fertile: 15
Infertile: 16
Broken: 6
Hatched: 10 – Mendota (5/25), Flambeau (5/26), Mudd (6/5), Corky, Winnebago, and Leola (6/8), Kickapoo (6/11), Druid and Quill (6/16), and Phantom (6/18). An eleventh fertile egg was transferred to Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Maryland, USA) and has hatched. Click here to learn more about the first hatch.
Wild Whooping Crane nests in Wisconsin: Twenty-two chicks have hatched (three remaining) as of 7/10/15. The season total = 37 nests by 27 pairs.
The first chick hatched May 3 (W1-15) on the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (parents 13/03/9-05)! In addition, the following pairs have hatched chicks:
15-09/11-09 (W2-15)
17-07/10-09 (W3-15 and W4-15)
36-09/18-03 (W5-15)
05-10/28-08 (W6-15 and W7-15)
W3-10/29-08 (W8-15 and W9-15)
25-09/2-04 (W10-15 and W11-15)
24-08/14-08 (W12-15)
12-03/29-09 (W13-15 and W14-15)
32-09/5-05 (W15-15)
8-05/1-04 (W16-15)
9-03/3-04 (W17-15 and W18-15)
7-11/3/11 (W19-15)
39-07/7-07 (W20-15)
16-07/16-02 (W21-15)
26-09/27-06 (W22-15)