Post by Woody Williams on Nov 2, 2006 9:49:07 GMT -5
Whooping crane expedition arrived in Indiana today
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Endangered bird flock should pass through Indiana on way to Florida
The 2006 Operation Migration whooping cranes and ultralight aircraft crossed into northwest Indiana this morning.
"Everyone is now on the ground in Benton County," said Liz Condie from Operation Migration. "The flight (from LaSalle County, Ill.) took 1 hour and 55 minutes. Joe (the ultralight pilot) reported it was 26 degrees, and that they were all freezing cold."
Past expedition routes led the migration team through approximately 14 Indiana counties with three overnight stops.
Eighteen young whooping cranes began the 2006 ultralight-led migration on Oct. 5. This year's flight is the sixth group of young birds learning traditional migration routes by following ultralight planes from northern Wisconsin to Florida.
Like many birds, whooping cranes learn their migration route by following their parents. But this knowledge is lost when the species is reduced and there are no longer any wild birds using the flyway.
"This year, to our usual role as surrogate parents, we have the added joy of acting as surrogate grandparents," said expedition leader and pilot Joe Duff. "Crane 2-06's safe arrival in Florida will mark another project milestone; the first second-generation whooping crane to be taught a migration route."
Crane 2-06 is the first crane hatched from the reintroduced eastern migratory whooping crane population. 2-06's parents are from the ultralight-led crane Class of 2002.
There are now 61 migratory whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America.
Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s, when the last migrating flock dwindled to an all-time low of 15 birds. Today, there are still only about 350 whooping cranes in the wild. Aside from the 61 Wisconsin-Florida birds, the only other migrating population of whooping cranes nests in the Northwest Territories of Canada and winters on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Whooping cranes are the tallest birds in North America standing 5 feet tall with a 7- to 8-foot wingspan.
Follow the 2006 whooping crane migration at:
www.bringbackthecranes.org/index.html
-----------------------------------------
Endangered bird flock should pass through Indiana on way to Florida
The 2006 Operation Migration whooping cranes and ultralight aircraft crossed into northwest Indiana this morning.
"Everyone is now on the ground in Benton County," said Liz Condie from Operation Migration. "The flight (from LaSalle County, Ill.) took 1 hour and 55 minutes. Joe (the ultralight pilot) reported it was 26 degrees, and that they were all freezing cold."
Past expedition routes led the migration team through approximately 14 Indiana counties with three overnight stops.
Eighteen young whooping cranes began the 2006 ultralight-led migration on Oct. 5. This year's flight is the sixth group of young birds learning traditional migration routes by following ultralight planes from northern Wisconsin to Florida.
Like many birds, whooping cranes learn their migration route by following their parents. But this knowledge is lost when the species is reduced and there are no longer any wild birds using the flyway.
"This year, to our usual role as surrogate parents, we have the added joy of acting as surrogate grandparents," said expedition leader and pilot Joe Duff. "Crane 2-06's safe arrival in Florida will mark another project milestone; the first second-generation whooping crane to be taught a migration route."
Crane 2-06 is the first crane hatched from the reintroduced eastern migratory whooping crane population. 2-06's parents are from the ultralight-led crane Class of 2002.
There are now 61 migratory whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America.
Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s, when the last migrating flock dwindled to an all-time low of 15 birds. Today, there are still only about 350 whooping cranes in the wild. Aside from the 61 Wisconsin-Florida birds, the only other migrating population of whooping cranes nests in the Northwest Territories of Canada and winters on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Whooping cranes are the tallest birds in North America standing 5 feet tall with a 7- to 8-foot wingspan.
Follow the 2006 whooping crane migration at:
www.bringbackthecranes.org/index.html
