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Whooping Crane Migration Update: April 16, 2002

Today's Report Includes:

Florida Five Heading NORTH!
They're OFF! Taking advantage of a good south-southeast tail wind and beautiful weather we raved about in our last report, the Florida Five made their move on April 9, all five departing all together on the 1200-mile journey north. Anne Lacy of the International Crane Foundation was checking their position by radio telemetry Tuesday morning when she noticed they were moving, and with substantial tailwinds, they moved FAST. Jumping into separate vehicles, the ICF tracking team of Anne and Dr. Richard Urbanek began the chase, and the migration was underway. Here's an instant replay of April 9-15 events:
  • April 9: After flying almost 7 hours they settled in Wilcox County, GA., about 217 miles from their pen site on a remote island at Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge.
  • April 10: A weather system stalled over lower Georgia, preventing any progress.
  • April 11: Waiting for better weather.
  • April 12: The cranes flew from their roost area back to forage in the first field they had landed in on 9 April. At 0938 CDT, despite marginal conditions (clouds, wind SE 5-10 mph), they seem determined to migrate. After nearly five hours of flying (108 miles), they landed in Henry County, GA.
  • April 13: Waiting for better weather.
  • April 14: They crossed the TN State line at 4pm! But Crane #7 peeled off on her own today and landed in McMinn Co. TN after flying 6.8 hours and covering 144 miles. The group of four flew 8 hours and covered 200 miles, landing at approximately 5:45pm in Fentress Co. TN. (The tracking team of Anne and Richard travel in separate vehicles just in case of a separation like this, so all five cranes still have a person monitoring their location.)
  • April 15: The flock of four was airborne again at 9:30 CDT on a day when migration conditions appeared to be ideal. Anne is following the radio signals from #7 as Richard follows the signals of the group of four. How far will they go? Remember that we don't share any data until the data are 24 hours old, but you can check the latest migration maps each Monday, Wednesday and Friday until the cranes reach Wisconsin!

Meet the Flock and Help Protect Them

Cranes April 13 on the Journey North

Photos WCEP Richard Urbanek

The migration began after the birds spent 126 days foraging in the wetlands of Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida and avoiding bobcats that took two of their flock during the winter. But last July, 9 chicks for this new flock began flight training at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Meet the flock and find out which chicks made it through the journey south, the winter in Florida, and now started this first historic journey north on their own:

While you're on this page, take a look at the personality characteristics of #7 and facts about her journey south. Then see how you will answer:

Challenge Question #16:
"Why do you think #7 took off on her own? If she stays alone, what's your prediction for her migration to Wisconsin? Why?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Joe Duff, lead pilot for Operation Migration on last fall's journey south, reminds us all: "Although we took special precautions to ensure these birds were reared in isolation from human contact, they are still far from wild. That return to nature will take place over the next few months but could be destroyed by one curious onlooker. Despite good intentions the best thing an observer could do for these birds and this project is to observe from a distance and report their location to wildlife officials. The worst thing you could do is attempt to feed them." As we explained before, Journey North has a 24-hour delay on giving the latest information so we can do our part in protecting the cranes. We hope you will, too!

A Look at the Satellite Data
Joe told us last fall, "With our ultralight planes, we can only fly 100 miles at a time and we use more stops. We know wild whooping cranes don't fly like that. They fly in longer stages; they soar on thermals and can maybe fly 500 miles at a time." As the migration progresses, the satellite data can help us get the picture. We can tell some things already:

Challenge Question #17:
"According to the satellite data, how many miles did the cranes fly between April 10 and April 14?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Tracking Team on Duty
How did Anne and Richard, the tracking team, get current photos to share with us? They know exactly where to find the birds after they land, thanks to both radio and satellite tracking devices. Joe Duff explains: "As you know, ALL the birds are equipped with conventional radio bands, but radio bands only have a range of about 15 miles. So two birds also have satellite tracking devices called PTTs (Platform Transmitter Terminals). Even if the monitoring team loses them, NASA will pinpoint their whereabouts for us. The monitoring team will try to track the birds until they set down for the day to determine if they selected proper habitat. Those devices are in place so we can keep tabs on the birds' migration and can find out roughly what county the birds are in. Thereafter we can use the conventional device to locate exactly where the birds are. We can find out what habitat they are using but primarily our goal is to find out what route they take back."

Challenge Question #18:
"What do experts hope to learn by tracking the birds on their return north? Think of as many reasons as you can."

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

The Western Flock: Riding the Winds To Canada
Last time, Tom Stehn told us that most of the whooping cranes usually leave around April 10, give or take a few days. The Florida Five all left on April 9! Did you notice that Chassahowitzka NWR is nearly the same latitude as Aransas NWR.? So, are the whoopers of the Aransas/Wood Buffalo flock following Tom's prediction? Here's Tom's latest report:

"My latest count of the whooping cranes (April 10th) found 118 of the 174 total in the population still here at Aransas. Thus, 56 have started the migration. Thirty-one departed between April 4 and April 10, with presumably most of them leaving on April 6. On that day, winds were very, very strong from the southeast and would have provided them quite a push.

I'm anticipating another 50+ whooping cranes to depart before you read this on April 16. Why do I think this? On my flight, I observed several small groups of cranes. It looked like the territories were breaking down and the cranes were more social, a sign of pre-migration behavior. Also, the majority of the cranes always leave the second week in April, so with 118 still here, a bunch more are going to leave shortly. The weather forecast through April 15 also looks favorable for migration. My third reason is that U.S. income taxes are due on April 15th, and the cranes will fly off to Canada rather than have to pay taxes (just kidding)." Thanks, Tom!

In Nebraska, wildlife biologist Wally Jobman tells us the single whooper we've been tracking for a few weeks was last seen on April 11. One new sighting was confirmed on April 13 on the Platte River 1 mile south and 1 mile east of the I-80 Gibbon, NE exit! No sighting confirmed in other states, but some possible sightings occurred in North Dakota. They're getting closer to "home!"

Two Worries for Tom
"I noted one other thing on my flight that I've been worrying about," wrote Tom this week. "I've been keeping an eye on one crane that has had an injured left wing all winter. This crane had moved two miles from where I'd seen it the week before, so I'm hopeful that is a good sign that the bird can fly. Even if it can't fly well enough to migrate, it must be able to fly short distances to be able to avoid predators in order to survive. The bird's wing was still hanging down, so it is definitely still injured.

"One other interesting thing happened on the flight. While taking off and flying across Aransas Bay, we noticed an oily sheen on the water and saw a place where the water was boiling up violently. A break in a natural gas pipeline had occurred and the gas was pouring out and causing pollution. We flew over the exact spot of the break and had the airplane's Geographical Information System (GIS) record the exact latitude and longitude of the break in the pipeline and then radioed in to the sheriff. He called the company that owned the pipeline that came from a gas well out in the bay, and they shut off the flow of gas through the line to stop any further pollution.

crane_aransasmap01

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

"We always worry about oil and gas spills in the bays all around the whooping cranes. Also, tug boats pushing barges and other large boat travel along a dredged canal that runs all the way from Texas to Florida called the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. This canal goes right past the whooping cranes. If a barge ever spilled a load of chemicals, it could be very, very bad for the whooping cranes."

Challenge Question #19:
"If you were biologist Tom Stehn, what might you do about the injured bird?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Try This!
What is the meaning of the prefix "intra" on Intracoastal Waterway? Why is this a good name for the waterway?

A Tale of Two Cranes: Link to Lesson

Photo Operation Migration

The wild-hatched cranes now leaving Aransas had their parents to guide them in the first year of their life. For the Eastern Flock, it hasn't been so. What are some differences and similarities between what the Eastern Flock and the Western Flock faced through the winter and spring? Let's consider two fictional cranes: Costume-raised Harry Whooper and Wild-bred Hermione Whoop. How successful are they at finding appropriate food? Avoiding people and pets or other animals? Figuring out how to eat blue crabs? Finding shelter in bad weather? Avoiding or dealing with predators? Socializing with other cranes? Preparing for spring migration? Reaching their summer grounds? Make predictions about how you think they'll deal with each of these situations or environmental factors. As you follow the season, see how good your predictions were using the chart here:

More on Natural Hazards for Migratory Cranes
All the answers you sent in response to Challenge Question 10 about natural hazards showed lots of creative thinking. Your answers still keep coming, and we noted that many of you are concerned about poachers, predators, high winds, storms and more -- in addition to human-caused hazards like communications towers and electrical distribution wires. More information about natural hazards will be helpful to everyone, and we thank Tom Stehn for adding these comments to what he already said about blizzards and diseases in our last report:

"The cranes are experts at withstanding strong winds and cold weather. In the fall, the whooping cranes usually choose to migrate south with low pressure storms that sweep down from Canada into the U.S. with snow and strong winds. The strong winds actually aid the migration as they push the birds south. They can push a bird off-course, but the cranes will make a course correction the following day when the winds change.

"The first cranes to arrive on the nesting grounds in Canada the latter part of April are often faced with marsh ponds that are still frozen. Whoopers can withstand these conditions if they have something to eat. Unfortunately, many of their live prey items wouldn't be active in cold, frozen conditions. For a few days, the cranes would eat seeds, fruits, or tubers until the ponds thaw and animal life including insects would be available.

"Poaching is a threat that the cranes face. We have had one whooping crane in Texas and three whooping cranes shot and killed in Florida by poachers. Those shootings can best be described as vandalism since the people are not using the cranes for any purpose."

Wind Watch: Discussion of Challenge Question #14
Last week we had a hunch that the sunny skies and winds Anne described would tempt the cranes to leave Florida. We showed you the weather maps and asked: "What caused the central Florida winds to shift to the southeast on April 7-8? At the same time, how did the barometer reading change?"

When the high pressure moved eastward on the 7th and 8th, winds shifted to the southeast because wind around the high pressure system blows clockwise. Winds shift from northerly to southerly as a high moves from west to east. At the same time, the barometer falls, indicating that a low pressure system is approaching.)

No Flying at Night: Response to Challenge Question #15

Photo Operation Migration

Joe Duff reminds us, "Whooping cranes in the wild are soaring birds and will go as long as the weather carries them -- as long as the thermals last and they're getting a free ride. At end of day when the sun goes down the thermals stop, and so do the cranes." But there's another reason why cranes don't fly at night. That was last week's Challenge Question: "Why don't cranes fly at night?"

We heard from James V. Amy, and several students from Eagle School in Madison. All thought of good reasons why cranes don't fly at night, including the lack of thermals to aid their flight. We were glad to see that all of you realized the other important reason: that a crane's eyes can't see well in the dark. Our information page on adaptations of the head will tell you exactly WHY they can't see well at night, and you'll also discover neat things about the whooper's tongue, beak, and bald crown. Go to:

Crane Adaptations: Challenge Question #20
As we continue our head-to-toe look at crane adaptations, are you ready to consider the helpful and important adaptations of a crane's long, long neck? Here's the question:

Challenge Question #20:
"How is a crane's huge trachea like a tuba?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-crane@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #16 ( OR #17 OR #18 OR #19 OR #20).
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions above.

The Next Crane Migration Update Will Be Posted on April 23, 2002.

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