Platte Basin Timelapse co-founder Michael Forsberg and the International Crane Foundation’s Director of Central Flyway Programs Dr. Andy Caven are currently on a 50-day, 2,500-mile bike ride through the Great Plains to raise awareness for Whooping Cranes, North America’s most endangered bird.
Beginning on May 11 on the Texas Gulf Coast and ending in late June in the prairies of central Saskatchewan, Forsberg and Caven are traveling the migration route of the Whooping Crane. The route follows the Central Flyway, winding north through central Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and into Canada. The Central Flyway is a migration pathway followed year after year by thousands of migratory species of birds, insects, and other animals.
“We’re hoping to not just see this landscape, but feel it,” said Dr. Andy Caven. “We want to feel the miles between these patches of vital habitat, just like the Monarch Butterfly or a Whooping Crane would while on their spectacular, long migration.”
Whooping Cranes are the rarest crane species in the world, standing five feet tall and covered in white feathers. These magnificent birds embark on a harrowing 2,500-mile journey, twice a year, between their nesting grounds in northern Canada to their wintering grounds on the Texas Gulf Coast.
“The muse is the whooping crane, this lovely bird that was nearly lost to extinction–but there’s a lot more to it than that,” said Forsberg. “Most folks don’t understand how migration is not just birds or butterflies flying from place to place, it’s this process that takes place over this huge landscape.”
WHERE MIKE AND ANDY NOW?
Mike has dedicated the last seven years to telling the story of Whooping Cranes. His efforts have been made into a book, a podcast, and soon, a feature-length film. Andy is a habitat ecologist whose work focuses on conservation policy, delivery, and research regarding whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, and their habitats.
“I want everybody to feel a part of a community,” said Forsberg. “These birds have a great story to tell. But it’s not just their story, it’s our story. This trip helps us to tell other people’s stories that we come in contact with along the way and lift them up.”
Mike and Andy invite you to be part of the journey—bike with them, meet them along the route, or support the effort through a donation or other meaningful ways. For more information, and to follow along, please visit: www.WhoopingCraneChronicles.com/bike
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