[birdky] FW: [fws-southeastnews] Sixth Group of Endangered Whooping Cranes Depart on Ultralight-guided Flight to Florida
- From: "Vorisek, Shawchyi \(FW\)" <Shawchyi.Vorisek@xxxxxx>
- To: <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 09:37:30 -0400
FYI:
Shawchyi Vorisek
Avian Ecologist/Wildlife Diversity Program
KY Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources
#1 Sportsman's Lane
Frankfort, KY 40601
(502)564-7109 Ext. 368
shawchyi.vorisek@xxxxxx
www.fw.ky.gov <http://www.fw.ky.gov/>
Did you know... Department of Fish and Wildlife receives NO tax dollars
and manages wildlife for all citizens?
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-----Original Message-----
From: fws-southeastnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:fws-southeastnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Tom_MacKenzie@xxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 2:45 PM
To: fws-southeastnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [fws-southeastnews] Sixth Group of Endangered Whooping Cranes
Depart on Ultralight-guided Flight to Florida
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This is a News Release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Southeast Region. While you can't reply to this message, you can call
me at (404) 679-7291, or send me a separate e-mail to:
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Thanks, Tom MacKenzie, Chief, Media Relations
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Sixth Group of Endangered Whooping Cranes
Depart on Ultralight-guided Flight to Florida
Eighteen young whooping cranes began their ultralight-led migration from
central Wisconsin's Necedah National Wildlife Refuge today - the sixth
group of birds to take part in a landmark project led by the Whooping
Crane
Eastern Partnership (WCEP), an international coalition of public and
private groups which is reintroducing this highly imperiled species in
eastern North America, part of its historic range.
At about 7:30 a.m., four ultralight aircraft and 18 juvenile whooping
cranes took to the air for the first leg of the 1,228-mile journey to
the
birds' wintering habitat at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
along Florida's Gulf Coast.
Seventeen cranes followed behind three aircraft and landed at the first
stopover site approximately five miles south of the refuge. The
remaining
bird landed back at the refuge but was later picked up by one of the
ultralights and followed the aircraft to the stopover site.
"Each fall our year's work culminates in the excitement of migration,"
said
Joe Duff co-founder, CEO and senior pilot for Operation Migration, the
WCEP
partner that leads the ultralight migration. "This season, one unique
chick
in the Class of '06 will make the migration extra special. Young 2-06
was
hatched in captivity from an egg laid by parents from our ultralight-led
Class of 2002 when through inexperience, they abandoned their nest.
"As a result, this year, to our usual role as surrogate parents, we have
the added joy of acting as surrogate grandparents," Duff continued.
"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. Hatched on May 7, at the U.S.
Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md.,
2-06's parents are whooping cranes 13 (a male) and 18 (a female) from
the
ultralight-led crane Class of 2002.
There are now 61 migratory whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North
America as a result of WCEP's reintroduction efforts, as well as two
chicks
that hatched in the wild from reintroduced cranes this summer-the first
whooping cranes hatched in the wild in Wisconsin in more than a century.
The two wild whooping crane chicks hatched on June 22 at the Necedah
National Wildlife Refuge. They are offspring of reintroduced whooping
crane pair 11-02 (male) and 17-02 (female) from the ultralight-led class
of
2002. The pair nested this spring at the refuge, but their egg or eggs
were lost, likely due to predators. They renested and began incubating
on
May 23.
The wild-hatched crane chicks-dubbed W-01 and W-02--stuck close to their
parents on their territory at Necedah NWR for much of the summer until
fledging, or gaining their flight feathers, in early September. One of
the
chicks stayed behind when its parents and sibling moved from their
territory, and as of today that chick has not been located. The other
chick, a female, was recently leg-banded with a radio transmitter so
that
she can be tracked by WCEP biologists.
In addition to the 18 birds being led south by ultralights, biologists
from
the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service
are rearing five whooping cranes at Necedah NWR. The birds will be
released in the company of older cranes in hopes that the young whooping
cranes learn the migration route, part of WCEP's "Direct Autumn Release"
program, which supplements the successful ultralight migrations. One of
the cranes sustained a wing injury on October 2. The bird is recovering
well, but it is unknown at this time if he will be released this fall.
The reintroduction project suffered three mortalities this summer. Male
whooping crane 17-04 was found dead in late May at the Sandhill State
Wildlife Area, Wis. Crane 2-03, a male, was found dead in Monroe
County,
Wis., on July 16. The remains of crane 3-02, a female, were found on
July
25 at Necedah NWR.
In 2001, Operation Migration's pilots led the first whooping crane
chicks,
conditioned to follow their ultralight surrogates, south from Necedah
NWR
to Chassahowitzka NWR. Each subsequent year, WCEP biologists and pilots
have conditioned and guided additional groups of juvenile cranes to
Chassahowitzka.
The whooping crane chicks that take part in the reintroduction project
are
hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center
in Laurel, Md. There, the young cranes 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, broadcast recorded crane calls and wear costumes
designed
to mask the human form whenever they are around the cranes.
New classes of cranes are brought to Necedah NWR each June to begin a
summer of conditioning behind the ultralights to prepare them for their
fall migration. Pilots 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.
Most graduated classes of whoopers spend the summer in central
Wisconsin,
where they use areas on or near the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, as
well as various state and private lands. Reintroduced whooping cranes
have
also spent time in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and other states.
In the fall, project staff from the International Crane Foundation and
the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service track and monitor wild southbound cranes
in
an effort to learn as much as possible about their unassisted journeys
and
the habitat choices they make along the way.
In the spring, ICF and FWS biologists actively track the cranes as they
make their way north again, and continue to monitor the birds, with the
assistance of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources biologists,
while
they are in their summer locations.
Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today,
there
are only about 500 birds in existence, 350 of them in the wild. Aside
from
the 61 Wisconsin-Florida birds, the only other migrating population of
whooping cranes nests at the Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest
Territories of Canada and winters at the Aransas National Wildlife
Refuge
on the Texas Gulf Coast.
A non-migrating flock of approximately 55 birds lives year-round in the
central Florida Kissimmee region. The remaining 150 whooping cranes are
in
captivity in zoos and breeding facilities around North America.
Whooping cranes, named for their loud and penetrating unison calls, live
and breed in wetland areas, where they feed on crabs, clams, frogs and
aquatic plants. They are distinctive animals, standing five feet tall,
with
white bodies, black wing tips and red crowns on their heads.
WCEP asks anyone who encounters a whooping crane in the wild to please
give
them the respect and distance they need. Do not approach birds on foot
within 600 feet; try to remain in your vehicle; do not approach 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 flyway 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 estimated
$1.8
million annual budget comes from private sources in the form of grants,
public 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.
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