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Flying with Cranes

Helping Whooping Cranes

People with a program called Operation Migration are helping the endangered whooping crane. Here's how:

1. They are raising some crane chicks in captivity.
2. The chicks’ caregivers wear white outfits and use crane hand puppets to feet the babies. This fools the chicks into thinking that the people taking care of them are cranes. 
3. That way, the chicks learn to follow the crane look-alikes.
4. One day, some scientists in their white outfits get into a small plane called an ultralight.  The scientists encourage the growing chicks to follow behind the plane as it moves along the ground.
5. Soon afterward, the ultralight takes off into the air and leads the young whoopers from their summer home in Wisconsin to a winter home in Florida.
6. Come spring, the young birds then know to fly on their own back over the same route to Wisconsin.
7. Operation Migration is working—helping to slowly increase the number of whoopers in North America.

One Boy's Dream Come True            
Wouldn't it be cool to join Operation Migration? One lucky kid did exactly that! His name is Taylor Richter.

• Taylor flew in a small plane high above an ultralight leading a flock of young whoopers.
• To get Taylor's whole story, visit: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/crane/sl/7/0.html
• To see other whooping crane slideshows, visit: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/crane/jr/BookletList.html
• You can also visit Operation Migration: http://operationmigration.org/work_wcranes.html
  

 

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