Whooping Cranes Flying Again After 11 Windy Days

November 1, 2010—Eleven no-fly days in 23 days. That’s not great odds, but the Operation Migration crew is just glad recent weather is helping to improve that statistic. For the second consecutive day, young whooping cranes being led by ultralight “parents” to learn the 1,285-mile migration route to Florida are flying after 11 days of raging winds kept them on the ground. By the end of today, the birds and pilots leading them will have traveled 240 miles to Livingston County, Illinois, after first leaving the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge on October 10. And just as exciting, the Operation Migration field journal reported today that bird #2-10 is flying again. Bird #2-10 scrapped his wing in Necedah, and although healed, he often opted not to follow the ultralight planes. But on Sunday, the Operation Migration crew found out that bird #2-10 was also the target of aggression. Staff found the bird bloody and being chased by two other whoopers, and he was again crated and taken to the next stopover, while the remaining 10 birds flew the 55 miles to LaSalle, Illinois. However, these 11 whooping cranes aren’t the only ones learning the migration route. Another 11 young whooping cranes were released October 25 from Wisconsin’s Necedah National Wildlife Refuge as part of the Direct Autumn Release (DAR) project. Whooping crane chicks for DAR are reared by biologists from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The juvenile birds are then released in the company of older cranes after fledging, or developing their flight feathers, and they learn the migration route from these older birds. This is the sixth year WCEP has used the DAR method.  Operation Migration is a founding partner of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, the coalition of non-profit organizations and government agencies behind the project to safeguard the endangered whooping crane from extinction. The group has played a leading role in the reintroduction of endangered whooping cranes into eastern North America since 2001. In the 1940s, the species was reduced to just 15 birds. Today there are more than 400 whooping cranes in the wild.		Pilot Joe Duff leads juvenile whooping cranes on October 31 to LaSalle, Illinois. Photo credit: Mark Blassage The chicks zoom out of the pen to catch up to the ultralight during a recent fly day. Photo credit: Walter Sturgeon The young whooping cranes stroll around and forage in the pen prior to the start of migration. Photo credit: Trish Gallagher

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