First Whooping Crane of the Season Hatches at Necedah Refuge

Media Contact: Joan Garland, ICF Outreach Coordinator, 608-381-1262

The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) and staff at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin are celebrating the first wild Whooping Crane chick of the 2014 season. The chick represents the latest success in the effort to sustain a wild migratory population of endangered Whooping Cranes in eastern North America.

The chick hatched May 8 at the Necedah refuge from the first nest of the year. The chick’s parents are #13-03 (female) and #9-05 (male). The chick will be assigned the number W1-14: “W” for a wild chick, 1 for the first hatch of the year, and 14 for the year. The pair was first seen incubating on April 9, 2014.

Necedah Refuge service intern Trevor Lauber was the first to observe the chick. “I was specifically looking for a chick since we thought there was a chance they would hatch today, and sure enough there was a little, brown fluffball next to the parent sitting on the nest.”

Thanks to the efforts of WCEP, there are now 100 Whooping Cranes in the eastern migratory population. In addition to #13-03 and #9-05, at least 13 pairs are currently nesting.

Read the full press release

A Whooping Crane chick breaks through its shell and begins the difficult hatching process. Click on the image to view a time lapse video of the hatch. Photo by Tom Lynn / www.tomlynnphotography.com

Follow ICF’s Egg Score Card, which tracks Whooping Crane eggs from our captive flock, as well as wild nests in Wisconsin, and learn more about ICF’s commitment to the endangered Whooping Crane.