Every autumn between 2001 and 2015, an unusual aircraft took to the skies over the American Midwest and flew a little more than 40 miles per hour in an ultralight plane piloted by a person dressed head-to-toe, resembling a whooping crane. This plane led a flock of endangered birds in a 1,200-mile (1,930 km) journey from Wisconsin to Florida. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum , the young cranes had been raised in captivity and had no wild animals to teach them their ancient migration routes. Therefore, by following the ultralight, they learned the path they would later fly on their own, thus helping to establish a new eastern migratory population of one of North America’s rarest birds.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
