Whooping crane pair #12-02 and #19-04 hatched a chick today, #W1-09 (W = wild hatched), at their nest site in Wood County, Wisconsin!  The chick that hatched was from a captive produced egg from ICF.  The pair’s own eggs were both infertile.  Sara Zimorski and Eva Szyszkoski, ICF, checked the pair’s eggs yesterday to see if they were fertile.  When it was discovered that neither egg would hatch, they switched the pair’s two eggs for an egg from ICF. 

The pair nested on their Wood County territory earlier this spring, but later abandoned their nest.  They renested at their current location around May 21.

The pair is extremely attentive to their new chick and appear to be naturals at parenting!  This is the first chick for this pair, and only the second time whooping cranes have hatched in the wild in this reintroduction project.

The first wild hatched whooping crane chicks in this population hatched at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in June 2006 and were offspring of #11-02 and #17-02, the “First Family”.  One of their chicks was predated prior to migration.  The other chick, #W1-06, migrated to Florida with her parents in fall 2006 and recently completed her third spring migration to Necedah NWR.  She is currently paired with #10-03 on the Necedah NWR.

Twelve pairs of whooping cranes nested on or near the Necedah NWR earlier this spring.  The First Family pair is one of two remaining pairs currently incubating on nests at the refuge.  Both of these nests are renests after the cranes abandoned their first nests earlier this spring.  Two additional pairs renested on the refuge, but both abandoned their renests.  The two pairs’ eggs currently being incubated are due to hatch (pending fertility) in the next 3-10 days.