Home Page Articles

Planes Train Endangered Cranes To Migrate

by Vic Micolucci - NPR.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Preparing for Ultralight-led Migration

By Joe Duff

When you set out to make a list of all the things that must be done before the migration can begin, you first have to decide where to start. I have a bad habit of beginning every story with too much background information. One word answers are not my forte.

Only a very few have had the honor and privilege of leading a migration of endangered birds halfway across the country and we owe that front seat vantage point to a hundred others who have worked very hard to make it possible. Before you talk about migration preparation it seems only fair to credit all those who made it happen, yet are not able to come along.

There are nine founding agencies in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership and sixty-two people attended the fall meetings in Necedah in mid-September. Each of them plays a vital role and without their participation there wouldn’t be one whooping crane in the eastern flyway let alone 78.

It starts every year at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center where the crane ecology team and OM conduct the imprinting and early conditioning. The WCEP health team (at this time of year from ICF) help with the arrival of the birds at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and again for the pre-migration health check in September.

Read more >>

Captive Rearing: Egg Production and Incubation

Have you ever wondered where the whooping cranes that follow the ultralights come from?  All birds for the reintroduction come from captive flocks. Because there are only 247 whooping cranes in the single natural wild flock we don’t want to remove any birds from that flock. The three primary captive breeding centers with whooping crane pairs that produce eggs for the reintroduction project are at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Maryland), the International Crane Foundation (Wisconsin), and the Calgary Zoo (Canada).  Additional breeding pairs are also present at the San Antonio Zoo and the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species at the Audubon Species Survival Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Whooping crane eggs used for ultralight project are incubated and hatched at Patuxent.

Read more >>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Spotlight on Winter Monitoring and Tracking

The Whooping Crane Class of 2008 at Chassahowitzka and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuges

March 2009

Management and protection of the whooping cranes on their Florida wintering grounds takes a dedicated team of WCEP members from the International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Once the birds arrive at their wintering locations, they are placed into top-netted pens until health checks are completed. For the remainder of the winter, they are free to fly in and out of a larger pen. During the day, the birds oftentimes explore outside of the enclosure, foraging for food and exploring their surroundings, but for safety, return to roost on the man-made oyster bar inside the pen at night.

Read More >>>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Migration Update

First Unassisted Spring Migration for the 2008 Ultralight-led Whooping Cranes Continues

Photo by USFWS: Joel Trick

April 7, 2009

Four of the 7 birds at Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge departed on March 24. Three of these birds are now in McHenry County, Illinois. The fourth bird split off from the group somewhere between Alabama and Illinois, and its current whereabouts is unknown.

The remaining 3 birds departed Chassahowitzka on Saturday April 4, and traveled north to Georgia, and are currently near Albany GA.

The 7 birds at St. Marks departed on March 30, and according to satellite data from the transmitter on one of the birds, were in Alabama on the 31st, and in Kentucky by April 2. As of April 7, 5 of these birds were near Gridley, Illinois, which is about 100 miles southwest of Chicago. A sixth bird was recently picked up there with severe multiple leg fractures, and is currently being examined by veterinarians. The 7th bird has become separated from the group, and is currently by herself in Iowa.

Summary

Migration departures from the Florida wintering sites were in 3 groups, and several birds have subsequently become separated from their group:

 

3 are in Georgia (departed from Chassahowtizka NWR)

8 are in Illinois (3 departed from Chassahowtizka NWR and 5 departed from St. Marks NWR)

1 is in Iowa (departed from St. Marks NWR)

1 has been injured and been taken into captivity (departed from St. Marks NWR)

1 bird’s whereabouts is unknown (departed from Chassahowtizka NWR)

March 30, 2009

On March 30, all 7 of the subadult whooping cranes that were at St. Marks NWR left to start their northward migration.

Four of the 7 subadults at Chassahowitzka NWR left last Tuesday (March 24). One of those birds is carrying a satellite transmitter so we know that as of today (March 30), it's now in Kentucky.

March 8, 2009

Planes, Cranes and Automobiles:

Ultralight-led whooping cranes arrive at two Florida National Wildlife Refuges

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Three months ago, fourteen yearling whooping cranes departed from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin for their first 1,200 mile journey across the skies of the middle and eastern United States. Half of the flock was destined for St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, and the other half destined for Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, both located on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

So what makes this migration different from that of any other migratory bird? The answer is two fold: their ultralight-aircraft chaperones, and their status as an endangered species.

Read more > >