16 Rare Cranes Raised in Captivity Migrate

With help from ultralight aircraft, a flock of rare whooping cranes completed its 1,200-mile migration from Wisconsin to Florida.

The 16 cranes raised in captivity over the summer reached the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in west-central Florida on Saturday morning, researchers reported on their Internet site. The birds had left the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin 49 days earlier.

The cranes and four ultralight planes passed over a crowd gathered at Crystal River Mall for a flyover before reaching their destination.

The flight follows the first ultralight-led migration, completed a year ago. Five survivors of the first journey migrated back to Necedah on their own in the spring and returned to Florida this fall without assistance.

Wildlife biologists are trying to establish a new Midwestern population of the rare birds.

At 5 feet tall, whooping cranes are North America’s tallest birds. They have rebounded from near-extinction in 1941, when there were just 20 left, but even now only about 400 of the birds exist.