The annual Operation Migration winter whooping crane migration is approaching Alabama. For the 14^th year, a new group of the young, endangered birds are being led by ultralight aircraft on a 1,200-mile journey from Wisconsin to Florida.

The captive-hatched birds are now in Carroll County, Tenn., just two stops away from landing in Alabama. The cranes are guided by a trained team from Operation Migration, a nonprofit group whose pilots act as “surrogate parents” and teach the cranes the route so they can return north on their own next spring.

Since 2008, Alabama Power and others have partnered with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to sponsor the migration. Alabama Power supports the effort through its Power of Flight initiative, which helps fund projects to conserve birds in the Southeast.

This year’s hatchlings began their Wisconsin-to-Florida migration on Oct.10 in Green Lake, Wis. Stopovers in Alabama are planned in Franklin, Walker, Chilton, Lowndes and Pike counties. Although the route is mapped out, weather plays a pivotal role as to when the birds are able to fly. The entire route concludes at St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge, south of Tallahassee, Fla.

Since 2001, Operation Migration has played a key role in the reintroduction of endangered whooping cranes into eastern North America. Because of conservation efforts, approximately 500 whooping cranes exist today, up from only 15 birds in the 1940s.

The public can track the birds’ progress by going to Operation Migration’s website, www.operationmigration.org. Information is also available on the site about the precise locations in Alabama where the public can see the cranes in flight as they move south.