Loves to swim, loves to fly, loves grapes, hates smelt; meet whooping crane chick #4-11.
Looking at her, scrunched down under a heat lamp, it’s difficult to see her as one of the best flyers in the Class of 2011. She’s still shy and often the last one to leave the pen, but once in the air, her true sense of self emerges and she flies like the wind.
Soon after hatching, she preferred to drink water out of her gold bowl rather than the ordinary water jug. When the deworming meds were given in the cranes’ favorite food, smelt, #4-11 turned up her beak at the fish treat. She took hers in a grape instead.
Just like people kids, the young cranes develop their own personalities, which change as they get older. Follow #4-11’s progress; she may become leader of the pack.


This information and the chick’s photo came from the OM website. http://www.operationmigration.org/ 
Read more about the Class of 2011 by going to the website’s “In the Field,” then “Site Map,” and scroll down until you see the bios for the various classes. Next Sunday, read about chick #5-11. 
The team is still in Livingston, IL, waiting for the weather to improve.