Bringing
Back the Cranes:
A New Eastern Flock
In 2001, the world's only migratory Whooping cranes were all in one flock. These birds migrated between Texas and Canada. But what if something happened to that flock? It could wipe out this endangered species. Experts began a daring plan. They would start a new flock of Whooping cranes in eastern North America. The goal? To establish 25 breeding pairs from 125 Whooping cranes released in the Eastern Migratory Flyway by 2020, introducing 18-20 or more chicks each year. No whoopers had been in eastern North America for more than a century; today, a new flock of wild whoopers is back in the East, and slowly growing bigger. How?
How
are scientists bringing back the cranes? |
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| Special Whooping crane chicks hatch in spring. The eggs are in a captive breeding center in Maryland. |
At the center, the chicks imprint on their own species: adult Whooping cranes. Soon the chicks begin "ground school." Then they are brought to Wisconsin for "flight school." |
The tiny chicks learn to follow a tiny yellow airplane. The plane is a stand-in for real whooper parents. They follow the plane as they learn to fly faster, higher, longer. |
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| When they are about 5 or 6 months old, the chicks will follow the tiny ultralight planes on their first migration — a long, risky journey to the flock's wintering grounds in Florida. | In another part of the plan, a few Direct Autumn Release (DAR) chicks are released to be near adult Whooping cranes in autumn. They will learn the flock's migration route by following adults on the journey south. | In spring all these young cranes will return to Wisconsin without any help. They'll do this for the rest of their lives, joining other members of the growing new Eastern flock! |
Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).
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