02-74001 and 02-77001 are two of our oldest whoopers and are now our oldest breeding pair. (02-64001' mate, Mrs. C, is our oldest whooping crane.) 02-74001 was hatched in 1974, from an egg brought from the wild flock in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. 02-77001 was produced at Patuxent and is one of 02-64001' daughters. She was hatched in 1977. In the early days of the program when we had only a few pairs, 02-64001 and 02-77001 were designated "the 'H' pair" in an alphabetical identification system used at the time. After that system was replaced with the numerical system in use now, the old H pair became 02-64001 and 02-77001. 

They were paired in 1982. 02-74001 is not able to fly, and so the pair is not naturally fertile. We use artificial insemination to fertilize 02-77001's eggs, and we also use 02-74001's semen to fertilize other genetically compatible whooper females. Unfortunately, 02-77001 has not been able to produce whooper chicks for us. She doesn't lay every year, and when she does, she often produces small, infertile eggs. 02-74001, through artificial insemination, has been a successful sire. He is the father of 02-85001, one of our most successful breeders, who was featured in a previous report. 02-74001 also sired Lancelot, a bird in the Calgary whooper breeding program. 02-74001 has also sired more than twelve chicks that were sent to Florida for release.

02-74001 & 02-77001 as Parents

While 02-77001 may not have produced any chicks herself, she and 02-74001 are more than willing to raise other pairs' chicks. Even when 02-77001 hasn't laid eggs herself, she will often accept a dummy egg (an artificial wooden egg painted to look like a whooper egg, or a crane eggshell filled with plaster) and incubate it, and then later accept a hatching egg in its place. In fact, 02-64001 and 02-77001 are such eager parents that they will often tolerate "chick swaps." When adopting crane chicks to pairs who may not be hatching their own egg, we try to time things so that pairs are either given eggs just beginning to hatch, or chicks that have hatched when the adults are expecting the dummy egg they've been incubating to hatch. If you do it too soon, the parents won't be ready and may not accept the chick. If you do it too late, the parents may have given up on the egg and abandoned it and won't accept the chick. With all the eggs and chicks we're handling during the season, it isn't always possible to get everything timed just perfectly -- sometimes chicks hatch a little early or a little late or don't hatch at all, and the timing is off. 

02-77001's Crooked Toes

02-77001 was raised in the early years of the crane program. When she was hatched, biologists were only beginning to learn how to solve growth problems like curled toes and rotating hocks. Now we can correct crooked toes so chicks grow up with normal feet. 02-77001's crooked toes are a slight impediment to her, but she usually navigates her pen with little difficulty. When it snows, we may have to provide her with a covering of straw to help her get around, and in the summer, she sometimes needs extra vegetation control to have a better walking surface.