Welcome Back, Whoopers! (Part 1)
Let’s say that on your next walk around the neighborhood you encounter a 6’ tall person wearing a Whooping Crane costume who is piloting an ultralight aircraft—What would you do? Follow them, of course!! At least that’s what you would do if you were a Whooping Crane chick.

Sounds crazy, but it works. Clever ornithologists are teaching Whooping Crane chicks their historical migration route by having them follow an ultralight aircraft. Whooping cranes were extirpated from the eastern U.S. more than a century ago. Now, thanks to the heroic efforts of many conservation groups, these stately endangered birds are being returned to their rightful place in our environment.

Wild Birds Unlimited and its customers are playing a big role in this project through two Pathways To Nature grants. The first, a $25,000 award to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to construct a viewing blind, used by project staff to monitor the young birds, is the subject of this travel log.

Whooper chicks are hatched in captivity at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. Each year, a dozen or more are then transported to the Necedah Refuge where they are raised. To avoid having the birds become accustomed to close contact with people, they are taught to forage by costumed handlers using crane hand puppets.

From the start, the Whooper chicks are exposed to the sight and sounds of the ultralight aircraft. They soon begin following the ultralight, running, then testing their quickly-developing wings for short flights. These young Whoopers don’t know it yet, but they will soon begin a voyage that will take them more than 1,200 miles away to their new wintering areas in Florida. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Welcome back, Whooper travel log!

Form more information on the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and Whooping Crane restoration, visit: http://midwest.fws.gov/necedah and www.bringbackthecranes.org.

The Pathways To Nature Conservation Fund is a partnership between Wild Birds Unlimited stores and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund environmental education and wildlife viewing projects. We encourage all of our customers to visit these incredible places. Your patronage helped make these projects possible!
 

This is a Pathways To Nature® Travel Log