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Outdoors: A Family of Volunteers at the Refuge
December 5th, 2010

Outdoors: Bird Walk Set for Monday Dec. 6
December 3rd, 2010

Outdoors: Join In the Great Suwannee River Cleanup Saturday
November 29th, 2010

Outdoors: Red-cockaded Woodpeckers Moved to New Home
November 1st, 2010

Outdoors: 25th Annual Coastal Cleanup Saturday
September 21st, 2010

Outdoors: Dolphin Research Team Needs Fish
June 13th, 2010

Outdoors: Business Spotlight: Dan May Island Adventure
May 26th, 2010

Outdoors: Nature Walk Monday
January 31st, 2010

Outdoors: Free State Park Admission on Veterans Day
November 6th, 2009

Outdoors: Shell Mound to be Temporarily Closed for Improvements
September 24th, 2009

Outdoors: Join International Coastal Cleanup and Cover Net Week in Cedar Key
September 17th, 2009

Outdoors: Youth Discover Shired Island in Refuge Program
August 24th, 2009

Outdoors: Learn About Scallops Saturday
June 2nd, 2009

Outdoors: Refuge Volunteer Receives Award
May 19th, 2009

Outdoors: Hunters Invited to Refuge Hunt Group Meeting
May 3rd, 2009

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Whooping Crane Chicks in Training

Whooping Crane Chicks in Training

Jim Hoy

Operation Migration is carefully raising its 2011 crop of Whooping Crane chicks at its Wisconsin training site. The "class of 2011" is small, just ten birds. Eggs from captive parents were hatched in Maryland, a cooperative effort that includes U.S. and Canadian wildlife biologists and a small army of volunteer crane enthusiasts.
What is now a seventeen year project, Operation Migration, a non-profit organization, uses costumes and puppets to raise the chicks with a minimum of human contact. As the chicks near fledging they are trained to follow an ultra-light plane up and down a runway. Eventually the flock takes training flights. Well trained, in early fall the flock takes local flights and then the supervised trip to safe overwintering sites in Florida.
Whooping Cranes are an endangered species that has come back from the edge of extinction. The entire population was fifteen birds in the 1940`s. Operation Migration`s goal is to establish a population that summers and breeds in Wisconsin and winters in Florida. That population will serve as insurance against a catastrophe striking the population that summers and breeds in Canada and winters on the Texas Gulf Coast. Cedar Key News reports the training and migration of the eastern flock each year.
Endangered species can be saved from extinction. Sometimes a simple solution such as restricting the use of DDT saves endangered species such as Bald Eagles, Osprey and Brown Pelicans. Deer, cougars and alligators have recovered following legislative action.
Whooping Cranes and the California Condor are two species that have needed heroic help to counter habitat loss and human predation. Captive breeding flocks and training programs that recognize the need to preserve the natural fear of humans are in place. These programs, staffed by government biologists and dedicated volunteers go forward, aided by contributions from bird lovers from all over the North American continent. For more information please go to Operation Migration`s website.

www.operationmigration.org

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