Crane chick hatches at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre
An African Crowned Crane egg has successfully hatched at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre. This is only the third that the Centre has successfully reared an African Crown Crane chick since the Centre was established in 1975. The chick was born on Tuesday 8 September.
The crane chick can be viewed with its parents from the aviary in the Weird or Wonderful (WOW) exhibit at the centre. The adult cranes were paired together in 2014 and are showing all the signs of being good parents by feeding the chick insects and a special diet that we supply them of grower pellets, wheat and meal worms. The centre will leave the chick to be parent-reared in the aviary where it is protected from predators.
Grounds Manager, Steve Nasir, said: “We are absolutely delighted that we have a crowned crane chick. These two adults have only been together for one year and they have unsuccessfully tried to breed twice in the last year, showing that it really was love at first sight. The chick is doing really well and has even been for their first paddle in the shallow water. We are looking forward to seeing it grow up into an adult crane.”
African Crowned cranes are most notable for their stiff crown of gold feathers on the top of their head. They are about 1m (3.3 ft) tall and weighs 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs) with a wingspan of 2 m (6.5 ft). The chick in contrast is orange in colour with lovely black markings on its back.
WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9.30am to 6pm during summer months and parking is free of charge. Situated off the A59, it is signposted from the M61, M58 and M6. The Centre is also accessible via the Southport to Manchester and the Liverpool to Preston line by train from Burscough Rail Stations. Visit the web site http://www.wwt.org.uk/martinmere/ to find out what’s on all year round at Martin Mere and the other eight WWT Wetland Centres.
