Operation Migration has nearly completed its annual course, leading endangered whooping cranes from Wisconsin to Florida during the winter months. Inspired by the movie, "Fly Away Home," (which was actually on TV last night), pilots flying "ultra-light aircraft" guide the birds across seven states and over a thousand miles, according to operationmigration.org.

At least eight whooping cranes, with their long legs, white feathers, black tipped wings, and brushed black faces, made the trip this year. According to the Wisconsin local news channel WTAQ, another group of eight was scheduled to go, but their journey was cancelled because of weather. Three birds from this journey died from the cold, WTAQ reported; the remaining five are a day away after rain delayed their projected arrival of Jan. 1. Please note, however that I was not able to confirm that report with operationmigration.org.

"A large and colorful area of precipitation hovers over us throughout today, which will keep us grounded at our current location and prevent us from wrapping up the southward migration," read the status update on Operation Migration's web page today. "Winds tomorrow are out of a favorable direction, but they may be too strong. At this point, Saturday looks promising."

One challenge of the trip is its length. Birds, of course, cannot fly at the same rate as airplanes. Thus, pilots must accommodate to the birds' pace and their resting periods. This year's trip has taken 93 days, and will likely total 95 if they arrive at their new projected date of Jan. 4, according to operationmigration.org. Sometimes, the pilots must also provide the birds extra guidance, such as the instance on Dec. 30 when one of the cranes broke away from the group and attempted to land. One of the pilots responded by tracking the bird and "escorting" it for the rest of the day's flight, meaning either the bird flew very close to the plane or rode inside for a period of time.

Only about a hundred whooping cranes still exist in the wild, up from the 15 that remained in the 1940's. Operation Migration, now in its 13 year of existence, is designed to show them how to reach warmer climates in the hopes of helping more survive beyond the winter.