Whooping Crane Chicks Thrive and a Rare Bird Turns Up in Nova Scotia

Posted by Rosemary Drisdelle Aug 4, 2006

Update on the progress of the "First Family of Whooping Cranes" in Wisconsin: the area where the family of cranes is living is experiencing a period of heat and drought; however, both chicks continue to do well. This seems miraculous to me, considering that twin Whooping Crane hatchlings seldom both survive, and this pair has inexperienced parents raised in captivity. If you haven't been following this story, the twin cranes are the first Whooping Cranes born in the wild in the northeastern United States in more a century. The parents were hatched and raised in the Operation Migration Captive Breeding Program and released into the wild.

If you are interested in supporting the captive Whooping Crane Migration, in which ultra light aircraft will lead 2006 hatchlings on their first migration south, become a Milemaker for Operation Migration.

Bird-watchers in North America are excited about the confirmed sighting of a Western Reef Heron in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. The bird is native to Africa and has only been seen in North America a couple of times in the past.

This individual presumably got blown off course by a tropical storm and ended up amazingly far from home. It seems to have arrived in late June or early July, and was still being seen in the Glace Bay area as of July 31, fishing and feeding along the shore. Presumably it finds Canadian fish, crabs, and mollusks quite acceptable! The last picture at the link above shows off the bird's eye-catching yellow feet, and the way it curves its head and neck back in flight - a feature that distinguishes herons from cranes.