Operation Migration Uses Ultralights To Help Preserve Endangered Species

Planes give people the ability to “fly like a bird,” and the staff and volunteers of a Canadian-based group are now routinely using planes to teach birds to “fly like a man.” The staff and volunteers of Operation Migration (OM) fly ultralight aircraft to lead young whooping cranes and other endangered birds to warmer winter habitat where they will not be in danger of freezing to death and they can find the food they need to survive.

In the 1940s the wild whooping crane population dropped to just 15 birds due to hunting and destruction of habitat. Those numbers are now up to more than 200 in the naturally occurring whooping crane flock that resides in Wood Buffalo National Park, on the borders of northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories of Canada, and migrates south to the Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge each winter. Since disease and other dangers threaten and could even eliminate the entire flock, wildlife conservationists recognized the urgent need to establish additional flocks.

OM faced and successfully overcame a number of daunting challenges early in the process of establishing new crane populations, including teaching the birds to migrate south in the fall. In a naturally occurring population, the older birds teach the younger ones the migration route, and the entire flock follows this pattern year after year. The new flock, hatched from eggs, would not have the benefit of this “natural” teaching, so OM carefully determined an appropriate migration route and developed a method for teaching the birds to follow the ultralights. Over the past four years, OM’s team has hatched and imprinted more than 60 whooping cranes to follow the ultralights on a 1,250-mile route from Wisconsin to Florida. The trip, which includes more than 20 carefully planned stops, can take up to nine weeks depending on the weather.

Bill Lishman, OM’s cofounder and chair of the board, led a similar program focused on reestablishing populations of Canada geese. His heroic, determined efforts provided the inspir-ation for the movie Fly Away Home. OM continues to work to repopulate Canada geese as well as sandhill cranes.

Protecting these magnificent birds from extinction keeps the OM team both busy and fulfilled. Cofounder and CEO Joe Duff notes that the long hours and planning hardly even seem like work when you consider the results. “What we are doing can save a species from extinction,” he points out. “Who could say no? Our entire team is dedicated to preserving these magnificent icons of endangered species for future generations of North Americans.”

By Rachel Stafford

To track the progress of this year’s cranes once the migration starts, visit operationmigration.org; you can view video updates at weather.com.

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