Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

On Tuesday, September 11, veterinarians gathered outside of the crane pen at the refuge and each bird was given a thorough pre-migration health screening. (See News Release) Additionally, new identification bands and radio transmitters (like the one shown in the above photo) were placed on their legs. Unfortunately, crane #11 succumbed to what is believed to be capture myopiathy and was unable to recover. He died later that night. We anticipated the possibility of loosing a bird during training or migration. We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the loss of the bird and we will certainly apply any changes needed to prevent similar losses. The rest of the flock is doing well and are slowly making the adjustment to their new jewelry. They were not trained on Wednesday or Thursday, as they were quite distracted by the bands, picking and pulling at them with their beaks and skip-hopping rather than running to lift off. On Friday and Saturday mornings, the older birds showed improved focus and flew quite nicely behind the plane. The younger group is still a bit distracted, perhaps because they are slightly smaller and may notice the bands more than their larger counterparts. These cranes still follow well on the ground and remain focused on the plane. Training will continue daily as weather permits. A note to refuge visitors however, due to the current training patterns, viewing will be limited from the Observation Tower. Hopefully your opportunities will resume quickly. Meanwhile there is some great video footage available on the web page.

Previous Update - Next Update

Back

Home