Whooping cranes behind an airplane

December 2015. An organization called "Operation Migration" tried for several years to train endangered whooping cranes to fly behind ultralight aircraft. The plan was to show them the way from their birthplace in Wisconsin to wintering areas in Florida. This photo shows their last, unsuccesful day of flying. The birds refused to fly further south. They were taken in crates to a nearby location in Alabama. Eventually, they met other cranes who knew about appropriate places to spend the winter.
Now, these and a few other whooping cranes, spend the winter in Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alabama.