Pilots lead crane migration

MILWAUKEE – They’re off again, and flying.

For a seventh year, young whooping cranes took off from a Wisconsin wildlife refuge, led by ultralight aircraft on a 1,250-mile journey to Florida.

This time, the project to establish a second migratory flock of the endangered birds in North America is recovering from a Florida storm last winter that killed all but one of the 18 young cranes.

The survivor died later, and with several other deaths from various causes, the adult flock in the wild now numbers about 52 cranes.

The 17 birds that left Saturday from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge were hatched in captivity and raised there by researchers wearing crane-like costumes to keep the birds from becoming familiar with humans.

The ultralight pilots wear the same costumes and lead the birds on a trip that takes about two months, with many stops where the young birds are kept in portable pens along the way. After that, the birds migrate in spring and fall on their own.

The whooping crane, which at 5 1/2 feet tall is the tallest bird in North America, was near extinction in 1941, with only about 15 left.

The other wild whooping crane flock in North America has about 200 birds and migrates from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migratory flock in Florida has about 60 birds.