How to Watch:  You must have flash installed to view video. Press the triangle "play" button on the box above to view the live feed - you may have to check back regularly to see the cranes in training for their flight.  Weather, injuries and illness all play a role in the training schedule.  (Note:  As part of the CraneCam agreement, some paid advertisements will appear on the video screen.  You may click the small "x" in the upper right hand corner of the ads to reduce their size.  We apologize for this inconvenience.)

Operation Migration, the lead organization in the efforts to reintroduce endangered Whooping Cranes into eastern North America, is set to begin its 9th season of migration flights from Wisconsin to Florida. The Class of 2009 is made up of 21 young Whooping Cranes.

An exciting addition to this year’s migration is the first ever webcam mounted on an ultra light aircraft. On flight days, Operation Migration will provide online viewers with never-before-seen live video of Whooping Cranes in flight as they follow the ultralights from the migration launch site in Wisconsin to the southern terminus in Florida.

Operation Migration and the Friends of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge received Wild Birds Unlimited Pathways To Nature grants in 2000-01 totaling $50,000.  These grants helped to pay for an ultra light aircraft, education materials, the enclosures where the Whooping Cranes live and a viewing blind that is used by project staff to monitor the young birds.