Teaching Whooping Cranes How To Migrate

It might seem odd, but a small aircraft is helping save a population of the once near extinct, Whooping Cranes. Today, twenty Whooping Cranes have landed in North Alabama. They are learning to migrate, from up north by following the sound of an ultralight aircraft. An international organization called Operation Migration came up with this out-of- the box idea to reintroduce this species to North America.

A spokesperson for the organization says, “It's critically important that we do this, because at one time there were only 15 of the birds left in existence. We don't want them to fall through the hole."

These twenty birds were raised in captivity. Since they don't have their parents to teach them how to migrate, they are trained to follow the sound of the ultralight motor to make the trek from Wisconsin, to Florida. The pilots wear white costumes, so that the birds do not realize they are human. The trainers and pilots also work in silence, so that the birds aren't attracted to the human voice

The birds left Wisconsin in October, and have traveled through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and are now in Franklin County, in North Alabama. They'll leave Franklin County tomorrow and make a few other stops in our state, as they continue their over 1200 mile trek to Florida. Once they reach the Sunshine State, they will have learned how to return home to Wisconsin, in the spring.

If you would like to track the birds flight path, visit operationmigration.org.