Whooping Crane Migration Enters Florida

Seventeen endangered whooping crane chicks and their surrogate parents?four ultralight aircraft?today reached Hamilton County, Florida as they continue their 1,250-mile migration from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in central Wisconsin to Chassahowitzka NWR along Floridas Gulf Coast. They have traveled 1,098 miles.

These majestic birds, the largest in North America, began their migration from Necedah on Oct. 13. Hamilton County, Florida is one of the many pre-arranged stopovers the ultralight migration crew will use along its journey to allow the pilots and birds to rest between flights.

This is by far the longest time it has taken us to make the migration," said Liz Condie of Operation Migration. "We think that the La Ni