[TN-Bird] Ultralight-led whooping cranes currently in Tennessee
- From: "Michael Roedel" <Michael.Roedel@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 14:57:17 -0600
As Winter Approaches the Midwest, Wild Whooping Cranes Head for Florida
Five male whooping cranes making their southward migration unassisted
for the first time recently arrived at Florida's Chassahowitzka National
Wildlife Refuge. These yearling cranes are the first of the
ultralight-reintroduced eastern whooping crane flock to complete the
2005 winter migration.
Cranes 2, 3, 12, 16 and 17 from the Whooping Crane Eastern
Partnership's Class of 2004 arrived at Chassahowitzka, on Florida's Gulf
coast, at 2:05 p.m. on Nov. 17. They had left French Creek State
Wildlife Area in southern Wisconsin on Nov. 9. Two female cranes,
numbers 19 and 20 from the Class of 2004, arrived in Florida ahead of
the males but stopped short of Chassahowitzka, in Madison County.
The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, or WCEP, an international
coalition of public and private groups, is organizing the effort to
reintroduce this highly imperiled species in eastern North America,
which was a part of its historic range. There are now 45 whooping cranes
in the wild in eastern North America.
Many other members of the newly-established eastern migratory flock of
whooping cranes have also begun their fall migrations, pushed out of
their summer homes at Necedah NWR and on public and private property
around central Wisconsin by the first blast of wintry air to hit the
upper Midwest.
In 2001, project partner Operation Migration's pilots led the first
whooping crane chicks, conditioned to follow their ultralight surrogates
south from Necedah NWR to Chassahowitzka NWR on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Each subsequent year, WCEP biologists and pilots have conditioned and
guided additional groups of juvenile cranes to Chassahowitzka NWR.
This year's class of ultralight-led whooping cranes and their human
escorts are currently in Tennessee, about halfway through their journey
from Wisconsin to Florida. Twenty cranes and four ultralights departed
from Necedah NWR on Oct. 14.
The youngest of the ultralight birds, number 26, was found dead in its
pen on Nov. 10, at a stopover in Indiana. It had one visible injury,
around the left eye. A brief field examination by a veterinarian shed
little light on the bird's death, and it was sent to the U.S. Geological
Survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., for a
necropsy.
In addition to the chicks migrating behind ultralights, WCEP biologists
also released four additional chicks this fall into the company of older
birds at Necedah in the hopes that the chicks will learn the migration
route from adult whoopers.
WCEP is using this "direct autumn release" technique to complement the
known success of the ultralight-led migrations. Chicks for direct autumn
release will be reared in the field and then released with older birds
after fledging, or developing their flight feathers. This method of
reintroduction has been extensively tested and proven previously
successful with sandhill cranes.
As of November 22, the four direct autumn release birds had not yet
left central Wisconsin.
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.
WCEP is a consortium of private organizations, government agencies and
private donors working to reintroduce a migratory flock of whooping
cranes back into eastern North America. The ultimate goal of the project
is to reintroduce enough whooping cranes to the flyway to establish a
self-sustaining flock containing at least 25 adult breeding pairs. More
than 60 percent of the project's estimated $1.8 million per year budget
comes from private sources in the form of grants, donations and
corporate sponsors.
WCEP founding members are the International Crane Foundation,
International Whooping Crane Recovery Team, Operation Migration Inc.,
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Natural Resources Foundation of
Wisconsin, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey's
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center,
and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Many other flyway states,
provinces, private individuals and conservation groups have joined
forces with and support WCEP by donating resources, funding and
personnel.
-WCEP-
For more information on the project, its partners and how you can help,
visit the WCEP website at http://www.bringbackthecranes.org
Educators and students are encouraged to visit Journey North for
information and curriculum materials related to the whooping crane
project: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/crane/index.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Chuck Underwood, 904-232-2580, x109
November 22, 2005 Rachel F. Levin, 612-713-5311
WCEP 05-03
Michael Roedel, State Ornithologist
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
P.O. Box 40747 Nashville, TN 37204
http://www.state.tn.us/twra
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