Whooping cranes are being successfully trained to migrate in the Midwest. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
An experimental flock of whooping cranes is starting to head back to the Midwest. Three birds died while down South over the winter. But later this year, the migrating cranes may start creating their own little replacements. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
An experimental flock of whooping cranes is starting to
head back to the Midwest. Three birds died while down South over
the winter. But later this year, the migrating cranes may start creating
their own little replacements. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Chuck Quirmbach reports:
At least eight whooping cranes have either died or been injured
during the experiment to create a migrating flock of whoopers in the
eastern U.S. But Rachel Levin of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
argues despite the losses, the experiment is going well.
“After 4 years of ultralight led journeys with whooping cranes, we have 45 wild
cranes now where just ten years ago east of the Mississippi we
had no wild whooping cranes.”
However the crane experiment remains unpredictable. Some of the
cranes may not come back to Wisconsin where they received their
migration training behind ultralight aircraft. Last summer, several of the
birds wound up in Michigan. Also some of the cranes may now be
sexually mature and scientists are eager to see if the migrating birds
produce their first offspring.
For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.