Costumed handlers with young whooping cranes at Necedah NWR in Wisconsin. Photo courtesy Operation Migration

Young whooping cranes following ultralight aircraft. Photo courtesy of Operation Migration

At dawn on October 17, 2008, 14 young whooping cranes departed Necedah National Wildlife Refuge behind an ultralight aircraft.  This event has been repeated each year since 2001 as part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) project to reintroduce a migratory population of whooping cranes to eastern North America.  This group of young cranes and ultralights is currently en route to a wintering area on the gulf coast of Florida, and is expected to arrive sometime in late fall.

On October 18, the day after the departure of the ultralight birds, the 2008 cohort of Direct Autumn Release (DAR) whooping cranes were released.  With this technique, birds are reared in isolation as they are for the ultralight project, but are not conditioned to follow the aircraft.  The young cranes are then released in small groups with wild whooping cranes, with the intent that they will learn the migration route from these older, more experienced birds.  This year, six birds were released on the Necedah NWR in groups of two near suitable older cranes.  These DAR birds will be carefully monitored during the fall migration to track their locations and ensure their continued progress towards the Florida wintering area.

Partners Operation Migration and the International Crane Foundation, along with USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists, have worked diligently since this spring to prepare the young cranes for their first migration.  All birds are reared by costumed handlers using an isolation protocol to prevent human habituation, and then released through the use of the two different techniques.

The recovery goal for this project is a self-sustaining population of at least 125 adult whooping cranes and 25 nesting pairs.  As of late October 2008 there were 75 wild birds in the eastern migratory population.  Releases of captive-reared whooping cranes are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.  Successful establishment of this breeding population will help meet one of the primary recovery objectives identified in the International Recovery Plan.