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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 7, 2008
CONTACT:
Larry Wargowsky, Necedah NWR, 608-565-2551
Ashley Spratt, USFWS, 612-713-5314
EA 08- 81
Whooping Cranes Take to the Sky on Ultralight-guided Flight
to Florida from the Necedah National Wildlife RefugeA tentative departure date of Oct. 17, 2008 has been set for this year's ultra-light migration of whooping cranes from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Wisconsin to two wintering destinations in southern Florida. The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), an international coalition of public and private agencies or organizations, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Operation Migration (OM), and the International Crane Foundation (ICF) have worked together to successfully reintroduce 69 whooping cranes as part of an eastern U.S. migratory flock since 2001. This year's ultralight-led migration will consist of fifteen juvenile cranes that have been training at Necedah NWR since June in preparation for their journey to Chassahowitzka and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuges on the Gulf coast of Florida.
The public and media are invited to observe the "Class of 2008" departure by meeting with refuge staff at the Ducks Unlimited (DU) Wetland located off of Headquarters Road between Highway 21 and the Refuge Office by 6:45 a.m, on Friday, Oct. 17. "We want to invite people to come and witness this fall's departure; it will be yet another milestone in whooping crane recovery efforts,' said Larry Wargowsky, Necedah NWR Manager. This is a tentative date for the departure due to the possibility of poor weather conditions. For the most up-to-date departure status please call the Whooping Crane Migration Hotline at 904/232-2580, ext. 124 or the refuge at 608-565-2551.
The ultralight-led flock from Necedah NWR will pass through counties in Wisconsin Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia to reach the final destinations in Florida. The length of the migration will remain unknown until the cranes arrive at their final destination. Last year's migration lasted 97 days.
Whooping cranes, named for their loud and penetrating unison calls, live and breed in wetlands, where they feed on crabs, clams, frogs and aquatic plants. They are distinctive animals, standing 5 feet tall, with white bodies, black wing tips and red crowns on their heads. However, their population dwindled to only 15 birds back in 1942. The decline of the whooper was a largely a result of hunting and loss of habitat due to agriculture in the early 1900s.
Only one population of whoopers exists in the wild, and migrates from nesting grounds in Wood Buffalo Park, Canada to wintering grounds at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. The Wood Buffalo breeding grounds in Canada's northwestern territories were discovered in 1959. Eggs collected from the Wood Buffalo flock established a captive flock, and the first crane to be captured, named Canus, became responsible for the offspring of this captive population. The U.S. Canada Joint Recovery Team was formed to promote growth of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population, to maintain a captive flock for production purposes and to restore two additional flocks -- a non-migratory flock in Florida, and a migratory flock in the eastern United States. WCEP was formed in 2000 to establish this new eastern migratory flock and help prevent the extinction of the endangered whooping cranes in North America.
The project to reintroduce a migratory population of whooping cranes into the eastern United States has a growing population of 69 birds after eight years and possibly 15 more birds will be added this year to the population. The whooping crane chicks that take part in the reintroduction project using ultralights are hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., where they are introduced to ultralight aircraft and raised in isolation from humans. To ensure the impressionable cranes remain wild, project biologists and pilots adhere to a strict no-talking rule, and use recorded adult crane calls to communicate with the young birds. Researchers wear costumes designed to mask the human form whenever they are around the cranes.
New classes of cranes are taken to Necedah NWR each June to begin a summer of conditioning behind the ultralights to prepare them for their fall migration. Pilots from Operation Migration lead the birds on gradually longer training flights at the refuge throughout the summer until the young cranes are deemed ready to follow the aircraft along the migration route. The birds undergo conditioning training because migration is a learned behavior. Once they are taught the migration route, they then travel without the aid of their ultralight parents in subsequent migrations north and south.Project staff from ICF and the Service track and monitor southbound cranes in an effort to learn as much as possible about their unassisted migrations and the habitat choices they make along the way. ICF and Service biologists track the cranes as they make their way north, and along with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource biologists continue to monitor the birds while they are in their summer locations.
In addition to the 15 chicks that will migrate behind ultralights this fall, biologists from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will also release six additional chicks into the company of older birds at Necedah NWR, in the hopes that the chicks will learn the migration route from adult whoopers or sandhill cranes. This technique, called "direct autumn release' (DAR) was developed to complement the known success of the ultralight-led migrations. Chicks for direct autumn release were reared in the field and released with older birds after fledging, or developing their flight feathers. This method of reintroduction has been extensively tested and proven successful with sandhill cranes.
WCEP asks anyone who encounters whooping cranes in the wild to please give them the respect and distance they need. Do not approach birds on foot within 600 feet and try to remain in your vehicle. Do not approach cranes in a vehicle within 600 feet or, if on a public road, within 300 feet. Also, please remain concealed and do not speak loudly enough that the birds can hear you. Finally, do not trespass on private property in an attempt to view whooping cranes.
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership founding members are the International Crane Foundation, Operation Migration Inc., Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, and the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team.
Many other states, provinces, private individuals and conservation groups have joined forces with and support WCEP by donating resources, funding and personnel. More than 60 percent of the project's budget comes from private sources in the form of grants, donations and corporate sponsors. For more information on the project, its partners, and how you can help, visit the WCEP website at http://www.bringbackthecranes.org.An excellent viewing location to observe whooping cranes as well as other waterfowl is the Observation Deck just east of the Headquarters building on Grand Dike Road. Visitors are also encouraged to stop by the Refuge Office 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday to get the latest information on whooping cranes, upcoming programs and events, and wildlife viewing.
Necedah National Wildlife Refuge Office is open Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and located off of Highway 21 four miles west of the Village of Necedah or 18 miles east of Tomah. Turn north onto Headquarters Road at the big brown sign. Follow Headquarters road and follow signs to the office parking lot. For additional information please call 608-565-2551.
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.
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