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Ten young whooping cranes were released Oct. 29-30 on central Wisconsin's Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The cranes are part of the Direct Autumn Release project conducted by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), an international coalition of public and private groups that is reintroducing this highly imperiled species in eastern North America, part of its historic range.

WCEP is using the Direct Autumn Release, or DAR, technique to complement successful ultralight-led migrations. Chicks for DAR are reared at Necedah NWR by biologists from the International Crane Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The juvenile birds are released in the company of older cranes after fledging, or developing their flight feathers. The young cranes learn the migration route from these older birds. Four whooping cranes were released each year in 2005 and 2006 using this method.

“We are all excited by the news of the successful release of the DAR birds,” said Jim Hook, President and CEO of the International Crane Foundation. “We are delighted with the increase in cranes this year, as it represents more than the cumulative total of DAR birds released in past years. We hope the increased population of DAR cranes will allow us to better evaluate the future success of the Direct Autumn Release project.”

Of the 10 cranes that were recently released, one was killed on the night of Oct. 29 by a predator. Biologists form the International Crane Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are tracking the remaining nine cranes using radio telemetry, picking up radio waves emitted from the birds' leg transmitters.

In addition to the nine DAR birds, 17 whooping cranes are currently being led south by project partner Operation Migrations ultralight aircraft. The ultralight-led birds are currently in Winnebago County, Ill. They departed Necedah NWR on Oct. 13.

Whooping cranes that take part in the ultralight and DAR reintroductions are hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., and at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo. Chicks are raised under a strict isolation protocol and to ensure the birds remain wild, handlers adhere to a no-talking rule and wear costumes designed to mask the human form.

Each year since 2001, ultralight pilots with Operation Migration have conditioned and led juvenile whooping cranes to follow their aircraft on their first migration south. Each year's new class of young cranes is shipped from Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to Necedah NWR in June to begin their summer of “flight training” behind Operation Migration's ultralights in preparation for their migration south.

Pilots lead the birds on gradually longer training flights over the refuge throughout the summer until the young cranes have sufficient stamina to follow the ultralights along the migration route.

Graduated classes of whooping cranes spend the summer in central Wisconsin, where they use areas on or near Necedah NWR, as well as various state and private lands.

WCEP asks anyone who encounters a whooping crane in the wild to please give them respect and distance they need. Do not approach birds on foot within 200 yards; try to remain in your vehicle; and do not approach in a vehicle within 100 yards. Also, 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.

Whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. Today there are only about 350 of them in the wild. Aside from the birds reintroduced by WCEP, the only other migrating population of whooping cranes nests at the Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada and winters at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migrating flock of approximately 50 birds lives year-round in the central Florida Kissimmee region.

Whooping cranes, named for their loud and penetrating unison calls, live and breed in wetland areas, where they feed on crabs, clams, frogs and aquatic plants. They are distinctive animals, standing five feet tall, with white bodies, black wing tips and red crowns on their heads.

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Mary Sullivan wrote on Nov 4, 2007 7:16 PM: " How much longer will these cranes have to be guided back and forth fron Wisconsin to Florida ? Will they some day be able to make the trip on their own ? I really enjoy all the outdoor and Nature articles in here every week. You are all on the up and up of every thing you write about. Sincerely. Mary. " The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News.

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