Rare (Whooping) Crane Chick Starts Journey South

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2006/nov/25/112509997.html

MILWAUKEE (AP) - One of the first whooping crane chicks hatched in the wild in more than a century is making more history as it migrates south with its parents from a Wisconsin refuge.

The chick, whose sibling apparently was killed by a predator, hatched in June at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin, according to Operation Migration, the group coordinating an effort to establish a second migrating flock of the birds in North America.

The journey toward Florida began Sunday. As of Thursday, the three cranes were stopped in Parke County, Ind., according to the researchers.

Operation Migration also has ultralight aircraft leading a separate flock of 18 young cranes hatched in captivity to a Florida refuge as part of the project. Those cranes make many stops along the way. They are kept in portable pens at night and when weather conditions aren't good enough to fly.

<more>

[Rockholm]

1. Very cool. Kicked and Nominated!

[1monster]

2. On of the wonderful things about living in Florida are the birds.

Where else can we see herons of all kinds, egrets of all kinds, wood storks, sandpipers, loons, all kinds of hawks, ibis, and have Bald Eagles flying over our homes and city streets.

I've seen all of those, and, on one never to be forgotten few moments, Whooping Cranes soaring across the sky.

When I was a child, I was told I would probably NEVER see a Bald Eagle because they were going extinct. These days I see several a year and the eagle populations are growing as they adapt to the environment as it is now.

Perhaps, one day in my son's life time, he will see Whooping Cranes making their way across the sky on their southward or northward journeys.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Kicked!!!