BRINGING BACK BIRDIE
Currently, there is only one self-sustaining flock of wild whooping cranes left in the world. Unlike Florida’s non-migratory group, these individuals migrate between Canada‘s Wood Buffalo National Park and Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. As the only wild flock in existence, the livelihood of the entire group is at risk from disease, natural disasters, natural predation, and human threats. To ensure its survival, non-profit organizations and public agencies from both countries joined forces in 1998 to form the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. Their goal is to provide population recovery for this species by establishing an eastern migratory flock.

COME FLY WITH ME
For cranes, migration is a learned skill. Therefore, those born and raised in captivity must be taught where and when to fly. To establish a second migratory population of whooping cranes, young whoopers are trained to follow a handler along a predetermined route. Ultralight aircrafts are used to guide the birds and are considered an extension of the caretaker. Cranes chosen for this task are hatched in captivity and reared by people in crane costumes to minimize human contact. Prior to hatching, audio recordings of the aircraft are played in hopes that the birds will associate these sounds with the handler. Those lucky enough to make the fall journey will travel from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge on Florida’s gulf coast. Because a majority of ideal habitat along the route lies on private lands, a key element for successful reintroduction has been the cooperation of local landowners. Operation Migration, which works in conjunction with Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, spearheaded the first reintroduction of migratory cranes using the ultralight aircraft technique.

HAVE YOU HEARD?
Recorded calls are helping scientists understand how cranes use vocal sounds to communicate among themselves. These acoustic fingerprints allow experts to identify individuals and even crane pairs. This method creates less stress than bird banding because there is minimal human contact. Operation Migration also uses recorded calls to safely guide and control birds along the migration route. The voice prints are played through large megaphones which are attached to ultralight planes. On the ground, these recordings are heard via speakers concealed within a handler’s costume.

 A SECOND CHANCE
Direct Autumn Release or DAR is a reintroduction technique used as a supplement to the ultralight aircraft-led method. The DAR process releases costumed reared chicks (Whooping cranes) in areas containing older cranes that have successfully migrated in the past. The hope is that young whoopers will learn the migration route from the older birds. Scientists believe this technique is important because it provides a second chance at life in the wild for those chicks found unsuitable for the primary technique (ultralight-led migration). Therefore, Direct Autumn Release has the potential to augment crane populations in North America.  

Resources for this article have been provided by the Journey North, North American Crane Working Group and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.