Whooping Crane Family Released into the Wild

This past spring two whooping crane chicks were hatched at White Oak Conservation, marking the first time this species had bred at White Oak. The chicks were raised by their parents in a large habitat where they learned to forage for natural food such as bugs, tadpoles, and lizards. The chicks grew quickly and by August they were the size of their parents.

Late this month, the family of four were flown by private jet to the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin where they were released into the wild. The birds have been fitted with telemetry equipment and color bands so that they can be tracked and easily identified in the field. The family will likely stay together and migrate this fall before returning to Horicon for the breeding season next spring. At that time, the chicks will strike out on their own.

White Oak is pleased to have been part of this important conservation project to help recover this critically endangered species. Read more about the whooping cranes’ story and the conservation work around them here…