The International Crane Foundation closed for the season on Friday, October 31st. The Whooping Cranes who live there have a beautiful exhibit, which includes a substantial wetland where visitors can sit, reflect on the plight of the species and realize that there is hope for the world’s rarest crane to recover from a brush with extinction. To learn more about the history of Whooping Cranes, visit ICF’s website – savingcranes.org 
This Whooping Crane, called Omega, hatched from the last egg to be collected from a nest in Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta/Northwest Territories, Canada. He hatched at ICF in the late 1990s and has been in the exhibit with his mate, Seurat, for the past three years. Click on the image for a larger view.
Photo by Ted Thousand, ©2014.
The details are beautiful.
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Yes, that is a gorgeous photo. I loved learning a little more about Omega. Would love to know more about his mate. Is she from ICF’s population – I’m guessing that. And wondering how long they’ve been a pair.
Hi Kathlin,
Seurat, Omega’s mate, hatched at ICF in 1999. She was parent-reared in Crane City, ICF’s breeding facility, by Bubba and Ginger. Omega and Seurat were on exhibit in the mid-2000s where they nested and laid eggs. They were moved to Crane City and stopped laying, so everyone was excited when they were back on exhibit and began producing eggs again. Their residence between Crane City and the WC exhibit is yet to be determined for next season, as all captive WCs are evaluated each year and their potential for producing eggs for the reintroduction effort.