The Operation Migration 2011 class of whooping cranes motored and soared into Illinois on Saturday. These cranes consist of whooping cranes artificially raised at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. They summer in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin and winter in Florida. Usually whooping cranes learn the route from their parents, but since they are raised in a lab they are led by aircraft.
Related: Whooping cranes fly south through Illinois via Operation Migration
Whooping cranes predict early cold winter in Chicago
The class of 2011 consists of 9 whooping cranes. There is also a separate group this year that was released among a group of older cranes. These mentor cranes will lead the young ones south to Florida. This appears to be a new strategy implemented this year.
Four chicks hatched naturally in 2011 from the eastern flock. They would have followed their parents, but sadly none survived past July 2011. This is bittersweet news because they have had little success getting the cranes to reproduce naturally. One crane gave birth to some chicks a few years ago, but she was tragically shot in Indiana, so this was a major setback. Even though none survived this year, news that four crane chicks were born in the eastern colony raises hope for the future.
The purpose of the whooping crane migration is to stabilize the population. The only natural wild colony of whooping cranes winters in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas and summers in the Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada.
Biologists fear that having only one colony is dangerous to the future survival of the crane. Something, like perhaps an oil spill, or a horrendous storm could harm this colony and threaten the existence of the species. In case of a worst case scenario in Texas, there is another population of these majestic birds in Florida and Wisconsin.
Related : Gulf oil spill illustrates the necessity of Operation Migration
The migration route is listed on the map. Currently the cranes are in Winnebago County. Each stop over location has a fly over area where interested birders can watch the cranes fly over following the aircraft. They usually fly at 7am, but there are many days they do not fly due to the weather, so there is no guarantee they will fly if you make the early morning trip. The next three stops: Winnebago, LaSalle, and Livingston, are the closest the cranes come to Chicago.
They usually post forecasts the night before on their in the field section of the website, so it can give those who want to check out a fly over an estimate if they will fly or not. The author drove down to LaSalle County a couple of years ago on a clear day, but my attempts to see them were thwarted by low fog and wind. It was a good time anyway hanging out with other people who had made the trip down from various parts of the state to see the spectacle.
Raising 9 whooping cranes in a lab and then flying them down to Florida is not cheap, so they could sure use donations to help the program continue.
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