MARYLAND 

Baltimore  

Over hunting and loss of wetland habitat brought the total number of whooping cranes in the U.S. to just 21 only a few decades ago. Over the years a lot of research has been done to map the migratory pattern, nesting habits and breeding behaviors of this magnificent bird. Now in an expansive captive breeding center located just outside Baltimore all that is known about whooping cranes is being employed as researchers breed whooping cranes and prepare to live in the wild. When the eggs hatch biologists feed the birds with whooping crane puppets and cover themselves in large white cloths to keep the birds from become accustomed to humans. As the birds get older they are taken out into a big yard where they are coaxed into following an ultra light aircraft dressed up to look like a big whooping crane. Eventually the birds are shipped to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin . Here the chicks learn to fly along side the air craft. When migration season comes the birds fly from Wisconsin to Florida long side the plane to learn the route. The birds get just one guided migration. After that they do it on their own each year. In 2005 the whooping crane population stood at 338, including captive bred birds that have been making the migratory rout one their own. Source: Smithsonian Magazine, September 2005

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