Eight young whooping cranes will be leaving any day now depending on the weather, on their annual migration from Wisconsin to Florida.

The cranes will start their migration from Necedah (Neck-ee-dah) National Wildlife Refuge about 90-miles north of Madison, following an ultra light aircraft twelve hundred miles across seven states.

The scientists organizing the trip hope the landmarks along the route will imprint in birds' brains and teach them how to migrate each year on their own.

A similar technique was used in New York to teach a flock of sandhill cranes to migrate last year. Wildlife experts say there are fewer than 300 whooping cranes left in the wild and only about 100 in captivity.

The cranes have been training for the long trip since July but were forced to take time off when all planes were grounded following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Daily updates on their progress can be found at www.bringbackthecranes.org.