Photo by John Longhenry, Rockford, Illinois

As many as 18 members of the eastern migratory Whooping Crane population have begun migration, and 10 of them left last Sunday, November 15.  Since then the weather has not been favorable for migration and no additional birds that we know of have headed south.

Pair #5-05 & #15-04 disappeared from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge at the end of October, presumably starting migration, but they have not been reported since then.

Pair #13-03 & #18-03 started migration on November 2 or 3, and by the 4th they were reported at a previously used migration stop in Greene County, Indiana where they’ve remained for the past two weeks. 

Number 3-07 began migration on November 3 and was reported in northwest Indiana on November 5.  We also had a report of a single whooping crane at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Tennessee on November 9 that was probably this bird. 

Three 2008 DAR birds, numbers 31, 36, & 38-08 were last seen in Wisconsin early on November 10, and data from #31’s satellite transmitter on the night of the 11^th indicated he was in Stephenson County, Illinois.  This location was less than 20 miles west of where Operation Migration and the ultralight-led cranes were grounded with bad weather in Winnebago County, Illinois on the 30th day of their migration, so I asked Charlie Schafer from Patuxent Wildlife Research Center who was working with Operation Migration if he could check out that location and confirm whether the three 2008 DAR birds were still together.  Charlie was able to find the birds and confirm that all three were still together – thanks Charlie!  Since then, those birds have continued migrating further south in Illinois.  The ultralight-led cranes are currently in LaSalle County, Illinois, north of the three birds.

But as I mentioned, the big day was last Sunday when 10 birds took advantage of the clear sky and light north winds to help push them south.  Three breeding pairs, numbers 12-02 & 19-04, 3-03 & 17-03, and 1-04 & 8-05 all left their territories on or near the Necedah refuge to head south to their winter homes.  Additionally, two single birds, numbers 13-08 and 29-08 and a pair of young males, numbers 14-05 & 12-07 also began migration on this day.  None of these birds were tracked, but luckily five of them ended up together and were photographed and reported to us.  It’s actually sort of amazing that the five birds ended up together since they started out in three separate groups at three separate locations!

Apparently, it’s a much smaller sky than we realize, because somewhere along the way pair #1-04 & #8-05 met up with #29-08 and also #14-05 & #12-07 who actually started their migration from near Baraboo, and they all landed together at the same location in Winnebago County, Illinois.  Thanks to John Longhenry for the beautiful photograph of the five birds and for letting us post it on our website.

The weather at Necedah isn’t looking great for migration for a few more days, but we expect another big migration day as soon as the rain ends and the north winds return.  We also expect that as the weather conditions change, the birds on migration in Illinois and Indiana will likely continue heading further south, and hopefully the ultralight-led cranes will be able to finally make some more progress on their migration as well. 

Update by Sara Zimorski, ICF Aviculturist/WCEP Tracking and Winter Management Co-chair.