Led By An Ultralight, A Tenth Group Of Endangered Birds Flies Into Georgia

Ten young whooping cranes have completed three quarters of their migration from Wisconsin to Florida. They flew into Georgia from Alabama Thursday, and landed in Clay County, Ga. Only six to seven months old, the cranes have now traveled 979 miles and have another 306 to go. Half of the cranes will be finished sooner though.

File Photo

Five cranes, selected by sex, genetics, and flight behavior, will be led to St. Marks NWR, launching from the Jefferson County, Fl. stopover.

This is the 10th group of birds to take part in a landmark project led by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), an international coalition of public and private groups that is reintroducing this highly imperiled species in eastern North America.  There are now about 106 whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America thanks to their efforts.

"We are proud to be part of this effort to bring this magnificent bird species back from the brink of extinction," said Cindy Dohner, Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "This is another example of people working together to help overcome monumental challenges that many species face in surviving in a landscape greatly altered by mankind."

File Photo

Eleven cranes started this journey, but the diagnosis of a torn tendon in the wing of whooping crane number 2-10 by Nashville, TN, avian vet, Dr. Michael Lutz, ended its chances of being released into the wild.  WCEP officials determined the crane would be returned to U.S. Geologic Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center where he will become part of the Whooping Crane Recovery Captive Population.  The crane was transported there on Sunday, Dec. 5.  Since departing Necedah on the 2010 migration, he had travelled in a crate in the back of a van for all but about 40 miles of the 900-plus air miles logged by his classmates.
 
Three ultralight aircraft and the juvenile cranes are traveling through Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia to reach the birds' wintering habitats at St. Marks and Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuges along Florida's Gulf Coast.
 
"Safeguarding an endangered species does not come with guarantees." said Joe Duff, senior ultralight pilot and CEO of Operation Migration. "This is more than simply an experiment in wildlife reintroduction; it is a struggle against all odds."

File Photo

While the ultralight-led cranes will fly through Georgia's southwestern corner, whooping cranes from previous year classes are sometimes spotted migrating through the state, said Nongame Conservation Section Chief Mike Harris of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. As of late November, four of the tall, white birds had been reported in central south Georgia.

FMI: www.operationmigration.org, www.fws.gov/midwest/whoopingcrane/sightings/sightingform.cfm