FAA says human-led migration of whooping cranes can resume

Nine young whooping cranes grounded in Alabama since December can resume their winter migration to Florida guided by their surrogate mother -- an ultralight aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration decided today.

Because the endangered birds were in mid-migration, the FAA granted a one-time exemption to let Operation Migration continue, The New York Times says.

The hatchlings, the ultralight and its human pilot (wearing a bird costume) have been cooling their heels in Franklin County, Ala., about 550 miles from their final destination. They left Wisconsin in late fall.

The Associated Press sums up the dispute:

FAA regulations say only pilots with commercial pilot licenses can fly for hire. The pilots of Operation Migration's plane are instead licensed to fly sport aircraft because that's the category of aircraft that the group's small, open plane with its rear propeller and bird-like wings falls under. FAA regulations also prohibit sport aircraft — which are sometimes of exotic design — from being flown to benefit a business or charity.

The rules are aimed, in part, at preventing businesses or charities from taking passengers for joyrides in sometimes risky planes.

The big utility Southern Company is partially underwriting this year's trip, hence the flap.

An Operation Migration spokesman told The Birmingham News that rain is the only obstacle to completing their mission. The cranes fly only in the morning, when it's calm, covering 25 to 50 miles a day.

The non-profit group has been guiding the cranes since 2001.

The Times explains this unusual pairing of wings:

The birds are essentially orphans, raised in captivity without parents, but if they can be shown the 1,200-mile route once, they will find their way back to Michigan the following fall on their own, and fly unescorted for the rest of their lives.

The idea is a bit weird; the pilots dress up to look like birds so the fledglings will be "imprinted" with them. ...

The cranes are bred and hatched at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. AP and other news outlets say the birds are then taken to a wildlife reserve in Wisconsin; not clear why the Times says Michigan.

Although it's now rain that is hampering the birds' journey, drought is threatening another flock of 300 whooping cranes wintering in Texas.

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