Whooping Crane May Have Survived in Fla.

MILWAUKEE – A whooping crane believed killed with 17 others in severe Florida storms may be alive, because a signal transmitting from the bird indicates it survived, an official said Sunday.

Eighteen of the endangered birds were being kept in an enclosure at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge near Crystal River, Fla., when violent storms moved in Thursday night.

The birds were led south in December by ultralight aircraft as part of a project to create a second migratory flock. Organizers of the project thought they had perished in the storms. But when they went to recover the cranes’ carcasses Saturday, one was missing, said Rachel Levin, a spokeswoman of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Organizers received a signal from a transmitter on the young male crane on Saturday night and again on Sunday in the vicinity of the pen, convincing them the bird is likely alive. The birds were fitted with transmitters for the journey so organizers could track them.

“I think we probably consider him to be a little bit of a miracle bird,” Levin said.