TheGreatGlide

Whatdoesananimaldowhenitdoesn’tknowitsmigratorypath?Whenithasnoeldertoshowitandnocluesastowhereorhowtogo?

Suchwasthedilemmaforthewhoopingcrane.Pushedtothebrinkofextinctionbyhuntingandlossofhabitat,NorthAmericanwhoopingcraneswereingrave danger.

Theirnormaljourneyfollowedaflywayfrominlandbreedinggroundstocoastalwinteringareas.Theytypicallydidtheflightinstagesof300-500kilometers(185‑300 miles).

Cranesareexcellentnavigators.Theyfollowwell-definedpathsthatyoungcraneslearnfromtheirparents.Butby1941,therewereonly15whoopingcranesleftintheworld.

Carefulconservationeffortsinthewildandincaptivityhavebroughtthosenumbersuptoanestimated431 individualstoday.Still,conservationistswerefacedwithachallenge.Howdoyourecreateamigrationrouteforhand-rearedchicksthathavenoknowledgeoftheirancestors’historic journeys?

Acreativesolutionwashatched.Youngbirdsweretrainedtofollowultralightaircraft.Theaircraftguidedthebirdsalongasaferouteandshowedthebirdsthe“correct”stopoverstouse.

Thesebirdsaresosmart,theyonlyneedtobeshownonce.Havingmadethetriptothesouthwiththeirguides,thecranescouldcarryoutthereturnlegandallfuturemigrationsontheirown.Andasthecranepopulationgrows,thecranescanpasstheirnewknowledgedowntofuturegenerationsofbirds.

Ourplanetisalwaysonthemove.Millionsofanimalsmigrate.Theyuseavarietyofwaystohelpthemgetwherethey’regoing.SomerelyonEarth’smagneticfield.Somerelyonenvironmentalcluessuchastemperature,lightlevels,andtheavailabilityoffoodsources.

Othersusethesun,moon,andstarstohelpthemmaketheirway.Stillothersrelyonphysicallandmarksorscentstoshowthemwheretheyshouldgo.Whatevertoolsanimalsuse,theirabilitiestomigratehelpthemsurvive.