Every year, the endangered whooping crane gets some much-needed help from the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP). www.bringbackthecranes.org. Annually, as part of Operation Migration, surrogate parents fly ultra-light planes from Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin—with the lanky birds in tow—down to Chassahowitzka NWR on the west coast of Florida. The trip spans more than one thousand miles and often gets drawn out, with planned stopovers like the one in Hamilton County.

“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 Niña weather pattern may be the reason the wind patterns have slowed our progress this year."

This year’s migration began on October 13, 2007.

The hope is to keep re-introducing the native whooping crane back into the wild, and to establish a population and migration route on the East Coast of the U.S.

"Re-establishing this Eastern migratory population moves us another step closer to recovering this magnificent bird,” comments Sam D. Hamilton, Southeast Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ten other birds were released in the company of older cranes in the hope that the young whooping cranes learn the migration route, part of WCEP's "Direct Autumn Release" program.

Right now, there are 59 migratory whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America because of WCEP efforts. Still, there are only about 350 of these birds across the country. WCEP asks anyone who encounters a whooping crane in the wild to please give them the respect and distance they need—do not approach birds on foot within 200 yards.