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Big Whooping Landing

Photo Special to TBO.com by BRYAN FARROW

Whooping Cranes make their final approach guided by ultralight aircraft from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 27, 2008

Updated: 01/27/2008 04:08 pm

After flying nearly 1,200 miles, 17 endangered whooping cranes touched down in Marion County this morning.

The cranes are the seventh group to be guided by ultralight aircraft to Florida from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin. They arrived about 9:15 a.m., flying over a crowd of about 1,000 at the Dunnellon Municipal Airport.

Public and private organizations are working together to conduct the project designed to return the species to eastern North America, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service release.

"When the Class of 2007 birds make their spring migration, there will be 76 migrating whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America," the release states.

The cranes will spend time at Halpata-Tastanaki Preserve in Marion County before being led to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Citrus County.

This year's migration was tough due to unsuitable weather conditions, according to the release. The trip took a little longer than three months.

Operation Migration pilots led the first whooping crane chicks to Florida in 2001, conditioning them to follow ultralight surrogates. Pilots and biologists have continued the tradition.

Whooping cranes neared extinction in the 1940s, and now there are about 500 in existence, including 350 in the wild, the release states. The birds, which live and breed in wetland areas, are known for loud and penetrating unison calls. They stand about five feet tall and eat crabs, clams, frogs and aquatic plants.

For information on the migration project, click on http://www.bringbackthecranes.org.

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