TheGreatGlide

Whatdoesananimaldowhenitdoesn’tknowitsmigratorypath?Suchwastheproblemforthewhoopingcrane.Nearextinctionduetohuntingandlossofhabitat,NorthAmericanwhoopingcraneswerein danger.

Cranesareexcellentnavigators.Theycanfollowwell-definedpathsthatyoungcraneslearnfromtheirparents.Butby1941,therewereonly15whoopingcranesleftintheworld.Conservationeffortshavebroughtthosenumbersuptomorethan400 individualstoday.

Still,conservationistswerefacedwithachallenge.Howdoyouteachhand-rearedchickstheirmigratorypath?

Acreativesolutionwashatched.Youngbirdsweretrainedtofollowultralightaircraftthatguidedthemalongasaferouteandshowedthebirdsthe“correct”stopoverstouse.

Thesebirdsaresosmart,theyonlyneedtobeshownonce.Havingmadethesouthboundtripwiththeirguides,theywereabletoreturnontheirown.Now,thecranescanpassontheirknowledgetothenextgeneration.

Millionsofanimalsmigrate.Theyuseavarietyofwaystohelpthemgetwherethey’regoing.SomerelyonEarth’smagneticfield.Somerelyoncluesfromtheland.

Othersusethesun,moon,andstarstohelpthemmaketheirway.Stillothersrelyonphysicallandmarksorscents.Whatevertoolsanimalsuse,theirabilitiestomigratehelpthemsurvive.