In late April two staff from the Denver Zoo visited ICF to receive hands-on training in breeding techniques that we use with our cranes. The staff returned to Denver with new skills that they can hopefully use next season to produce fertile crane eggs (their birds are already responding well to the techniques learned here at ICF) AND with two fertile Hooded Crane eggs from ICF for their collection.
ICF’s captive Whooping Cranes are laying eggs and the number of wild Whooping Crane nests in Wisconsin is growing. Nesting season is here!
Access to the rare and endangered Whooping Crane chicks that are raised each year at the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in Baraboo, WI is granted only to trained ICF staff wearing crane costumes – until now. This chick season ICF is sharing this experience with the world through our live web cam!
Knock before entering… A common courtesy, for example, when visiting a friend or relative’s home. Believe it or not, this simple concept can also be applied as a training tool to help calm nervous birds. A ‘knock’ signals to a bird that an aviculturist will be entering to do something in their space. This ‘something’ can be any number of routine husbandry tasks: from checking food and water buckets, to entering the pen with a large bucket to clean. Sometimes, a knock may just mean someone is coming to look in at you and toss you a treat.
At ICF’s Baraboo headquarters, we have all 15 species of crane, many for purposes of breeding and maintaining the valuable genetic lines of several endangered species. That responsibility, however, precludes us from taking in any injured cranes, either from public reports or as a result of our research. Wild birds have the potential of bringing with them any number of diseases that could wreak havoc with our captive population; that is a risk we cannot take.