Editor's note:

On Feb. 2, 17 of 18 whooping cranes that arrived in Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in southern Florida died following a violent rainstorm. Officials believe they either drowned in flooded pens or were electrocuted. The storms’ toll on humans was also tragic:  Twenty people died.

A flock of 18 white birds glided through the cold, blue sky of southern Indiana in the early morning, guided by three small planes disguised as mama and papa birds.

Their stop during the 73-day trip from Necedah, Wis., to Dunnellon, Fla., in mid-November was part of an extraordinary effort by Operation Migration to save endangered whooping cranes by establishing a wild flock of migrating birds.

The nonprofit organization is part of a network called the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership that is breeding the birds in captivity and then teaching them how to migrate from one area to another.

Teachers and students from all around the country are incorporating the study of whooping cranes into their lesson plans, and some are raising money for the effort.

Dylan Lear, a fourth-grader at John F. Kennedy Montessori School in Louisville, said, "The whooping crane projects made me like nature more than I used to, because we're actually saving endangered animals."

Whooping cranes haven't always been endangered. In 1860, about 1,400 whooping cranes existed in the wild. In 1941, because of hunting and destruction of their homes, the cranes' population declined to a single flock of 15 birds that migrated between Canada and Texas.

Efforts to increase the whooping crane population began in 1985, when a recovery team formed to research the issue and come up with a plan. Experts decided that additional populations of whooping cranes needed to be established at a new North American location because a hurricane or chemical spill could have destroyed the entire Texas-Canada flock.

In 2001, Operation Migration led the first migration from Wisconsin to Florida. Today, about 500 of North America's largest birds exist in the world. The goal is to increase the Wisconsin-Florida population to at least 25 nesting pairs and a flock of 125 within four years. Other students from the Kennedy Montessori School and three Y-Press members were among about 200 people who gathered in Indiana in November to watch the whooping cranes continue their migration south.

They gathered at a gravel parking lot at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge around 7 a.m., well-equipped with cameras. The preserve is about an hour's drive south of Indianapolis in Seymour.

A distant hum could be heard about 8:20 a.m., coming from behind tall trees. Everyone turned toward that area and focused their cameras.

Fifteen minutes later, people exclaimed, "There they are!" They pointed at the ultra-light planes as they circled and then coaxed the birds to follow. The large, white birds gracefully flapped their wings in a slow steady beat. They disappeared into the shining sun within 30 seconds.

Alan Belth, a sixth-grader from Pinnacle School in Bloomington, was thrilled by the experience. "I had a lot of fun because I'd never seen whooping cranes before, and I thought it was really cool."

After the cranes were no longer visible, most of the crowd at Muscatatuck began to pack up their cameras and drive away.  

 asked a few people to stay longer for interviews.

After 15 minutes, the cranes suddenly reappeared far in the sky. They approached closer and closer, finally flying directly overhead, with the planes scrambling to get the birds back in formation.

Without warning, the birds had decided to scatter. The pilots had to come up with a strategy quickly to get the young cranes back in line heading south.

As parents would treat their children, the pilots did not leave anyone behind. They flew in wide circles in the blue sky and performed what they called a "crane roundup" to persuade the impulsive youngsters to follow them. It was almost like the planes were teaching the birds the game of follow-the-leader.

Humans teaching birds to fly is no easy feat. Raising cranes and teaching them the migration route is a year-round effort. Here is how they do it:

The whooping cranes are hatched at Maryland's Patuxent captive breeding center in the spring.

Before they hatch, the eggs are exposed to recordings of planes in flight. The sound of planes replaces the natural sense of security they'd get from hearing their mothers.

After they hatch, they are isolated from humans. The partnership is careful that these birds do not become accustomed to humans. That is why pilots and the rest of the team wear large, baggy, white costumes when they teach them to fly, feed them, and guide them.

Next, they are taken to Wisconsin for "flight school." This is where the cranes are taught to fly and follow the ultra-light planes that will guide them on their journey.

When they are ready to migrate, they begin their journey south, starting at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and ending at Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge.

Helping the cranes migrate takes a tremendous amount of teamwork, says Marie Brady, one of nine working on the project.

"A lot of communication is definitely important, working together and just making decisions for the birds, and whatever is best for them," she said.

But many other people help make their work possible, including kids. Second-grade students from the Kennedy Montessori School, for example, helped raise funds to pay for the gas for the planes.

"I've written letters to Exxon Mobil to try to convince them to donate gas to the trikes (ultra-lights)," said Michaela Nee, a 9-year-old Kennedy Montessori School student. Her class recently found out that Exxon Mobil donated $2,500 in response to their letters.

After the birds left Indiana, they still had 15 more stops to go and about 784 miles to migrate. They were grounded for several days because of fog and other bad weather.

The cranes reached Halpata Tastanaki Preserve in Florida on Dec. 19. After all wild cranes from previous migrations leave, these new graduates will move to their final destination in late January: Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge nearby. There, they join a flock of 60 other whooping cranes that will travel back to Wisconsin on their own in the spring.

"The successfulness of this reintroduction project is a stellar example of what can be done when hands and hearts come together," Operation Migration chief operating officer Liz Condie wrote in an essay after the 2006 flight. "For though it is all about a wild creature, the comeback tale of the endangered whooping crane has a very human side. It puts us in touch with ourselves, and with thousands of like-minded others. It raises awareness and teaches us lessons. It reminds us of man's past follies, and encourages us to make reasoned, thoughtful and unselfish choices for now and for the future."

For the kids in the classrooms and the birds in the sky, this conservation project achieved something groundbreaking. "We accomplished something good," said Abby Wagner, a Louisville fourth-grader. "I feel like it has been putting a piece of the world back together."

REPORTERS: Lucy Knorr, 11; Joi Officer, 12.

Copyright 2007 Y-Press