WCEP NEWS RELEASE

High Winds Result in Loss of One Crane

October 25, 2001

Joan Guilfoyle, 612-810-6797
Chuck Underwood, 904-910-6254

GREEN COUNTY, WI - The eight whooping cranes, part of a study using ultralight aircraft to reintroduce a migratory flock into eastern North America, escaped last night after high winds caused the partial collapse of the overnight pen that housed the birds. All of the birds have been located.

At approximately 10 p.m. (CDT), Wednesday (October 24, 2001), migration team members, Deke Clark and Dan Sprague, discovered that extremely high winds at the bird's isolated site had partially toppled the pen structure, and that the birds had dispersed into the surrounding area. The team members discovered the situation when they went to check on the birds because of concern over the increased winds. An immediate search of the surrounding area was initiated with Joe Duff and Richard Van Heuvelen joining in the costumed search using recorded crane calls.

Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) members, Kelly Maguire, Julie Langenberg and Richard Urbanek, responded to assist on-site members with locating the wandering birds using radio tracking receivers and antennae. Shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday all but one bird had been located and returned to the restored holding pen.

The eighth bird, referred to as number 3 and outfitted with a radio transmitter, was located by Langenberg and Maguire at approximately 10 a.m. Thursday morning. Unfortunately, the bird was found dead beneath a power line and likely collided with the line. The exact cause of death will not be known until a necropsy is completed.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) local weather service radio reported winds in the area to be at 30 to 35 miles-per-hour (mph) with gusts to 45 - 50 mph from the West.

The location of the birds in a valley created a funneling effect, " said Duff, "which resulted in winds that likely exceeded 50 miles-per-hour."

"The loss of a bird, although unfortunate, is always a possibility, " Duff added, "but does not jeopardize continuing south with the remaining birds."

Duff and Clark are lead pilots and Van Heuvelen the team crew chief and all members of Operation Migration, Inc.. Sprague is a crane biologist with U.S. Geological survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Maguire is an aviculturist with the International Crane Foundation. Langenberg is a veterinarian with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

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