A whooping crane chick was confirmed on June 18 at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, Wisconsin.  This is the second time in over a century that a naturally produced whooping crane has hatched in the wild in the Midwest!  

The chick, #W2-09 (W = wild hatched), is the offspring of whooping crane pair #11-02 and #17-02 from the ultralight-led crane Class of 2002.  The behavior of the pair indicated that the chick hatched on June 14 or 15, but visual confirmation was difficult to obtain until June 18 due to dense vegetation.  Numbers 11-02 and 17-02, dubbed the “First Family”, successfully hatched the first wild whooping crane chicks in this population in 2006 at Necedah NWR. 

Number W2-09 is the second chick to hatch in the wild this year in the eastern migratory population.  Whooping crane pair #12-02 and #19-04 hatched a chick, #W1-09, on June 12 at their nest site in Wood County, Wisconsin.  The chick is from a captive produced egg from ICF, placed in the nest after it was determined that the pair’s own eggs were both infertile. 

Update by Joan Garland, ICF Education Outreach Coordinator/WCEP Communications & Outreach Co-chair. Photos by Richard Urbanek, USFWS.