These majestic birds,
the largest in North America, left Necedah on Oct. 16, following
three ultralight aircraft piloted by
Operation Migration
pilots. Illinois is one of the eight states the ultralight-guided
migration will fly over before reaching Florida.
The whooping cranes
and the migration team left Green County, Wis., and flew 47.1 miles
for 1 hour and 42 minutes before landing in Ogle County, Ill. Frost
and some engine trouble delayed the morning flight start time until
8:42 a.m.
The Whooping Crane
Eastern Partnership, an international coalition of public and
private groups, is conducting the project in an effort to
reintroduce this highly imperiled species in eastern North America.
"The state of
Illinois is a key partner in this unprecedented effort to
reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern flyway," said John
Christian of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a WCEP founding
partner. "We are grateful for the efforts of the Illinois DNR and
our other state colleagues in helping to make this project a
success. We certainly couldn't do it without them."
"We are proud to be a
part of this team and this historic project," said Illinois
Department of Natural Resources Director Joel Brunsvold. "Special
thanks go to the private landowners who continue to assist this
project. The mission could not be accomplished without their
generosity."
The whooping cranes
chicks hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife
Research Center in Laurel, Md., where they were introduced to
ultralights and raised in isolation from humans. The Operation
Migration pilots, along with biologists from Patuxent and the
International Crane Foundation, spent the summer conditioning the
cranes to fly gradually longer flights behind the ultralights -- the
cranes' "surrogate parents."
One of the cranes
conditioned at Necedah this summer did not leave with its flockmates
on the ultralight-led migration. Crane 3 was diagnosed with a small
fracture in her right leg and underwent surgery. She is being
transported separately along the migration and put in the pens each
night with her flockmates so that she can continue learning wild
crane behavior. Project biologists and veterinarians hope she can
join the ultralight-led migration in progress after she has healed.
These cranes
represent the third generation of birds to make this historic
assisted migration from Wisconsin to Florida. In 2001, seven of
eight whooping cranes that began the pilot fall migration made it to
Florida safely; five of these seven birds survived the winter and
made an unassisted, successful spring migration back to Wisconsin.
In 2002, the WCEP
migration team conditioned a second group and guided 17 juvenile
cranes to Chassahowitzka NWR. One was lost when it collided with an
ultralight during the migration. Sixteen returned to Wisconsin this
past spring.
