This is Bird Note.

Standing nearly five feet tall, the whooping crane is the tallest flying bird in North America.

These huge cranes with a black mask and a splash of red on the crown came perilously close to extinction.

By the 1940s, illegal hunting and egg collecting left just 15 birds in the wild.

The sound that gave them their name was nearly silenced forever.

To bring these elegant birds back from the brink, conservationists tried some unusual approaches.

Some of the earliest efforts involved raising chicks in captivity

so they could be reintroduced to the wild.

To ensure that the young birds didn't imprint on humans,

their caretakers disguised themselves with white smocks and crane-shaped hand puppets.

Until 2016, ultralight aircraft pilots taught some youngsters how to migrate

by guiding the flock along a 1,200-mile route from Wisconsin to Florida.

More recent and conventional efforts focus on protecting key nesting and wintering sites,

tracking the birds by plane and satellite, and even marking power lines with high-vis tags to prevent collisions.

It may not be as flashy as cranes following ultralights or caretakers in costumes, but this steady

behind-the-scenes work has paid off. There are nearly 800 whooping cranes flying free today,

each doing their part to make sure their song is never silenced.

For Bird Note, I'm Sheikh Gispego.