A crane chick was found to have fledged (reached flying age) at the Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve in Cambridgeshire last month, and it’s a pretty big moment for the wildlife world.
At an average of 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall, the common crane is the tallest bird that lives in the UK. Right now, we have around 250 cranes in Britain, which is the highest number since the birds were reintroduced here in 1979. Last year, 36 crane chicks fledged across the country, marking a record year for the species.
The species was once native to East Anglia but the new parents were thought to be the first in the area in 400 to 500 years when they arrived in 2019.
Chicks are classed as ‘fledged’ once they are old enough to fly. For baby cranes, that’s at around 10 to 11 weeks old. These particular parents have bred and hatched eggs each year since 2019 but this is the first time that they have successfully reared a chick to fledge.
Alan Kell, countryside manager for the National Trust at Wicken Fen, said: ‘We are delighted by this news and it is a testament to the work the team have been doing for several years in creating the right kind of habitats for birds such as these to feel at home and be able to breed successfully.
‘With a growing network of similar projects across the region, we are hopeful that these successes mean East Anglia will soon be able to support a growing population of these elegant birds year-round.’
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If you can’t get enough of Mother Nature, take a look at our list of the best places to see rare and wonderful wildlife in the UK or have a gander through our roundup of images from Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024. And in other recent conservation news, the world’s ‘most dangerous’ bird has hatched in the UK, the UK’s first ever bison bridge is coming to Kent, baby beavers have been born in London for the first time in 400 years and beautiful white storks could be coming back to London.
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