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My Daddy was was an ultralight.............
Plentiful Sandhill Cranes Blaze Trail for Rare
Relatives
By ELIZABETH STANTON FOR NYT 10/24/00
Twelve young sandhill cranes and an
equal number of biologists and
wildlife specialists are on their way
to completing the longest human-led bird
migration yet, over 1,250 miles from
Wisconsin to Florida.
The humans are teaching the cranes, born in
captivity, to migrate in hope that they can
use the same route and training process on
their endangered cousins, the whooping
crane, next year.
At least nine other human-led migrations
have been tried with other species,
including trumpeter swans and Canada
geese. Large water birds, like geese and
cranes, need to be led on their first flight
south by their parents so they can memorize
the landmarks. But these birds do not have
parents that have migrated.
So, in the parents' stead is Joe Duff, one of
the project designers and the pilot of a
yellow ultralight plane propelled by an
engine and a propeller, which is covered
with a bird guard.
The birds regard this single-seater as their
leader. Kept aloft by its large wings that
resemble those of a hang glider, the
ultralight craft can fly up to 35 miles an
hour. Flying about two hours a day, the
birds can cover 50 to 75 miles, but travel
time and distance depends on the cranes'
energy and the weather.
To signal flight time, Mr. Duff, dressed in a
baggy gray drawstring flight suit to
disguise his human features, starts the
engine and plays a tape of adult crane calls
off the tail of the plane.
When all goes well, and it generally has,
the cranes follow his lead and soar behind
him in a V-formation off the large white
wings until they reach the next stop.
"We just have to get up every morning and
see," Mr. Duff said. "Some days are
beautiful and others we have the fog and
winds to battle. But once we are up there,
the sights are incredible and it is just a
matter of a slow climb to get there."
The entourage left Necedah National
Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin on
Oct. 3 and the caravan of biologists,
wildlife experts and veterinarians expect to
arrive in early November at
Chassohowitzka National Wildlife Refuge,
along the Gulf of Mexico, in Florida.
The human support group, traveling by
land and by air, will make about 24 stops.
Joan Guilfoyle, a spokeswoman for the
Fish and Wildlife Service, said the sandhill
cranes were selected for the experimental
migration because of their large numbers,
with an estimated population in the United
States of 650,000. That was not always the
case: in the 1930's there were as few as 25
breeding pairs, but the population
rebounded in the 1970's and has
flourished.
The whooping crane has not done as well.
In 1865, its numbers were estimated at 700
to 1,400, but in the 1930's the birds began
to disappear, and hit a low of 16 migrating
birds in 1941. Since then, the population
has gradually increased, to about 400
today, but only about 188 of these are wild,
migrating from Canada to Texas for the
winter.
The goal of the experimental migration is to
train birds born in captivity to survive in the
wild and to make the annual migration,
adding another flock of migrating birds.
"The depletion of our nation's wetlands and
the early hunting of these birds has resulted
in their endangered status," Ms. Guilfoyle
said, "and now we have a chance to bring
experts together to determine how to create
a second migratory group."
Raised to test the route for their crane cousins, the sandhills began training in late May. Dr.
Daniel Sprague, a biologist, played ultralight motor sounds and the parental brood call to the
chicks 24 hours before they were hatched. For the next few weeks, Dr. Sprague continued to
acclimate the cranes to engine noises and the ultralight by playing recordings of adult cranes
and feeding them from an outstretched crane puppet as he circled their pen, eventually getting
them to follow the plane.
The project, expected to cost about $850,000 this year, is financed by the Whooping Crane
Eastern Partnership, a consortium of public and private agencies.
Operation Migration is one of the private groups working with the partnership. Bill Lishman
and Mr. Duff founded the nonprofit group in 1994 after pioneering the human-led migration
technique with Canada geese. Plans are on track for next year's effort with the whooping
cranes.
"If this happens, it will be amazing because these birds don't have a negative side," Mr.
Lishman said. "They have never been a hugely populated species so they won't inundate an
area or overpopulate it and we will be on the road to reintroducing an element of nature that
we forced out."
On Smoking Stuff
"At Baylor summer camp in Waco Tx, we used to smoke dryed out mustang grape vine stems. We called it smokin' grapevine. ...and we turned out ok. Ha!"
-bill